La Ilaha Illa’llah
La Ilaha Illa’llah (2009-2010), an ongoing video projection in three parts: Tornado, Volcano, and Wild Fires. Drawn from appropriated footage of natural disasters found on the Internet, La Ilaha Illa’llah transforms the images into a succession of painterly eruptions, demonstrating the power of beauty even at times of calamity and chaos, as suggested by eighteenth-century philosopher Edmund Burke’s concept of the sublime. The title of the work derives from an account from the life of thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi, who was described as whirling in devotion to Allah, chanting “la illa-ha illa’illah” until he fell into a trance of deep worship.
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