Writing on the Wall. Amman, 2003

Writing on the Wall"al-Barzakh" – a verse by Syrian poet Adonis, a calligraphic installation in 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan. Captioned / translated by verses from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1793

"Writing on the Wall" 2003
"al-Barzakh" - verse by contemporary Syrian poet Adonis. A calligraphic installation in 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan

No. 1 of 7
“The cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his guard at the tree of life, [and when he does...]”

No. 2 of 7
“When he does, the whole creation will be consumed and appear infinite and holy, whereas now it appears finite and corrupt.”

No. 3 of 7
"This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment.”

“But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do,<br>by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutory and medicinal...”

No. 4 of 7
“But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do, by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutory and medicinal...”

No. 5 of 7
“Melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid.”

No. 6 of 7
“If the doors of perception were cleansed; every thing would appear to man as it is; infinite.”

“For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.” <br>The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793

No. 7 of 7
“For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.” The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
“The cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his guard at the tree of life, [and when he does...]”

"When he does, the whole creation will be consumed and appear infinite and holy, whereas now it appears finite and corrupt."

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
"When he does, the whole creation will be consumed and appear infinite and holy, whereas now it appears finite and corrupt."

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
"This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment."

“But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutory and medicinal...”

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
“But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutory and medicinal...”

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
"Melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid."

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite."

"For man has closed himself up till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [excerpt], by William Blake, 1793
"For man has closed himself up till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."

Language and its controlled expression in poetry is often considered a pinnacle of civilization. For this reason, eight years ago an editor of a journal seeking creative photographs of Arabic verse called to inquire what I possessed in my archives. I looked and looked through film files and proof sheets however the only images I found were of poems of Palestinian resistance carved on a monument commemorating victims of lethal Israeli suppression of a demonstration in the 1970’s, Yawm al-Ard; the poetry was incidental in the photographs. The editor was surprised because I have often featured architectural epigraphy from the Muslim world in my work. Upon close examination, I discovered that scripture predominated and secular verse was almost non-existent.Primed with this awareness, years later I was thrilled to stumble upon an art installation in the 4-Walls Gallery in Amman, Jordan which featured the verse of Adonis (Ali Ahmed Saïd), a contemporary Syrian poet. One poem in particular, al-Barzakh (meaning “limit or boundary separating two things”and, by extension, Purgatory) was written larger than life in delicate graceful calligraphy across one wall from floor to ceiling. I began reading the poem but quickly grew impatient: a literal translation was irrelevant when the visual revelation and cultural import were for me immediately profound. I wanted to unwrap my camera and communicate an experience beyond or beneath words, how language is a radiant drop in the ocean of sweat that is spun from the bodies that build literacy, culture and civilization. I also wanted to make it apparent to the viewer, most either illiterate or lazy like myself, how difficult it is to get to the meaning of an Arab poet, which is why so many of our notions are stereotyped, ethno-centric and shallow; meaning is there but just not easily accessible. How many people will see this poem and yet fail to read it? The poets and the prophets toil and rail trying to bring us to the light, while we, like the old Babylonian King Belshazzar, cannot decipher the writing on the wall.Producing a photographic series of this nature, enlarged in silver, takes weeks of one’s time. It becomes a meditation. Outside of my darkroom door, I had hung a quotation months before from William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell. I was contemplating how an English poet over 200 years ago had railed so sublimely against man’s superficial parochial nature. At some eureka point, these two inspirations merged and I recognized their many points of congruence. Not only do we strive to illuminate the underlying humanity and spirituality beneath ethnic and religious diversity, but my technique itself includes bleaching with potassium ferricyanide, a corrosive with which I selectively etch the silver grains from the photographic emulsions. I titled the succession of seven images comprising this portfolio with a progression of individual lines from a passage in Blake’s poem. Poetic language and oracular utterance blend and migrate from one medium and one language to another, urging us to see and experience the luminous and transcendent in all things, and in all peoples. –Saïd Nuseibeh, November 2003

Writing on the Wall, Artist's Statement
Language and its controlled expression in poetry is often considered a pinnacle of civilization. For this reason, eight years ago an editor of a journal seeking creative photographs of Arabic verse called to inquire what I possessed in my archives. I looked and looked through film files and proof sheets however the only images I found were of poems of Palestinian resistance carved on a monument commemorating victims of lethal Israeli suppression of a demonstration in the 1970’s, Yawm al-Ard; the poetry was incidental in the photographs. The editor was surprised because I have often featured architectural epigraphy from the Muslim world in my work. Upon close examination, I discovered that scripture predominated and secular verse was almost non-existent.Primed with this awareness, years later I was thrilled to stumble upon an art installation in the 4-Walls Gallery in Amman, Jordan which featured the verse of Adonis (Ali Ahmed Saïd), a contemporary Syrian poet. One poem in particular, al-Barzakh (meaning “limit or boundary separating two things”and, by extension, Purgatory) was written larger than life in delicate graceful calligraphy across one wall from floor to ceiling. I began reading the poem but quickly grew impatient: a literal translation was irrelevant when the visual revelation and cultural import were for me immediately profound. I wanted to unwrap my camera and communicate an experience beyond or beneath words, how language is a radiant drop in the ocean of sweat that is spun from the bodies that build literacy, culture and civilization. I also wanted to make it apparent to the viewer, most either illiterate or lazy like myself, how difficult it is to get to the meaning of an Arab poet, which is why so many of our notions are stereotyped, ethno-centric and shallow; meaning is there but just not easily accessible. How many people will see this poem and yet fail to read it? The poets and the prophets toil and rail trying to bring us to the light, while we, like the old Babylonian King Belshazzar, cannot decipher the writing on the wall.Producing a photographic series of this nature, enlarged in silver, takes weeks of one’s time. It becomes a meditation. Outside of my darkroom door, I had hung a quotation months before from William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell. I was contemplating how an English poet over 200 years ago had railed so sublimely against man’s superficial parochial nature. At some eureka point, these two inspirations merged and I recognized their many points of congruence. Not only do we strive to illuminate the underlying humanity and spirituality beneath ethnic and religious diversity, but my technique itself includes bleaching with potassium ferricyanide, a corrosive with which I selectively etch the silver grains from the photographic emulsions. I titled the succession of seven images comprising this portfolio with a progression of individual lines from a passage in Blake’s poem. Poetic language and oracular utterance blend and migrate from one medium and one language to another, urging us to see and experience the luminous and transcendent in all things, and in all peoples. –Saïd Nuseibeh, November 2003

Writing on the Wall.
Amman, 2003

al-Barzakh – a verse by the contemporary Syrian poet Adonis, a calligraphic installation in 4 Walls Gallery, Amman, Jordan. Captioned / translated with verses from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1793.

Writing on the Wall.Amman, 2003

Writing on the Wall.
Amman, 2003