the arabesque as metaphor

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RESONANCE AND RICOCHET: THE ARABESQUE AS METAPHOR Reality — which for Muslims is the same as Essence, cannot be grasped. The Arabesque in Muslim art is the means by which this ungraspable evocation is expressed through indirect allusion. An Arabesque appears to the unknowing eye as a whimsical play of forms composed of traces of writing, organic motifs, angles and bends. Much as life itself appears, initially as a series of unrelated and isolated “random” events. At a cursory level, the splendour is sufficient, both of life and of the Arabesque. Beyond the outer appearance of lines and forms, is a design: a stable geometry that connects all the forms. The unfolding forms are made from simple figures. In their repetition, where ending and beginning is indiscernible, they indicate a movement whereby one form flows into another. They pronounce an abstract rhythm: resonance and ricochet. These projected, blended figures, seemingly whimsical in their meanderings are based on stable relationships. In human terms they are not “lost” souls but free souls; not homeless, but nomadic; not mute, but echoing silence. The arabesque reflects Grace: it is a metaphor for the Invisible. An untenable claim perhaps, but only the art through which Islam is expressed can make it.

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Page 1: The Arabesque as Metaphor

RESONANCE AND RICOCHET: THE ARABESQUE AS METAPHOR

Reality — which for Muslims is the same as Essence, cannot be grasped. The Arabesque in Muslim art is the means by which this ungraspable evocation is expressed through indirect allusion.

An Arabesque appears to the unknowing eye as a whimsical play of forms composed of traces of writing, organic motifs, angles and bends. Much as life itself appears, initially as a series of unrelated and isolated “random” events. At a cursory level, the splendour is sufficient, both of life and of the Arabesque.

Beyond the outer appearance of lines and forms, is a design: a stable geometry that connects all the forms. The unfolding forms are made from simple figures. In their repetition, where ending and beginning is indiscernible, they indicate a movement whereby one form flows into another. They pronounce an abstract rhythm: resonance and ricochet.

These projected, blended figures, seemingly whimsical in their meanderings are based on stable relationships. In human terms they are not “lost” souls but free souls; not homeless, but nomadic; not mute, but echoing silence.

The arabesque reflects Grace: it is a metaphor for the Invisible. An untenable claim perhaps, but only the art through which Islam is expressed can make it.