The Traditional Roots of Experimental Modernism-2

9 Islamic Calligraphy: Reading the Divine Word (Read) ‫اﻗﺮأ‬ 一Jibril (Gabriel), ​610 A.D. Introducing Islamic Calligraphy During the seventh century, God sent down a number of revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. While the Prophet Muhammad was sleeping in a cave, the Cave of Hira, he was aggressively awakened by an angel. The angel, Gabriel, through God’s words, commanded Prophet Muhammad to “Read.” Although the prophet was unable to read, Gabriel continued pushing the prophet multiple times to read, each command repeated more boldly with the angel grasping Muhammad. According to the Quran, Gabriel then conveyed the intended first revelation, “Read in the name of your Lord Who created; created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the most Generous Who taught by the pen; taught man that which he knew not” (Quran 96:1-5). Eventually Muhammad, an illiterate man, was able to recite the revelations of God.6 With that, Gabriel had completed his mission in bringing God’s messages to man who then would bring along the revelations to others. Before his death, the prophet passed along the revelations, which were orally memorized and repeated by followers. However, many of these followers who had memorized the revelations had later been killed due to religious conflicts. In response, the Muslim leaders led a movement to have all the revelations written and by the end of the eighth century, many copies of the Quran and stories of the prophet’s life lessons were immortalized through scripture. As a result, the significance of the written word in Islam was solidified (“Journey Of The Line | Installation Views”). 6 Although there are many accounts of what actually happened by different sects of Islam as well as by various poets and historians, there is a level of consensus in the significance of this story. 10 With the rise of writing in Islam, the Arabic language progressed rapidly, becoming more accessible to the common reader. The Arabic script developed both technically and stylistically. As a result, to read in Arabic, in the context of Islam, was more than reading, but “to collect and articulate information,” as a byproduct of the physical aesthetic appearance of the script (​By The Pen 4​ 6). This distinction in function solidified a practice of writing, calligraphy, that was both linguistic and visual. To that end, I attempt to introduce Islamic calligraphy through its importance and progression within both Islamic and Arabic cultures. In Arabic, writing and reading takes place from right to left.7 In Islamic calligraphy, not only are words read from left to right, but the styles, designs, and outlines that are embedded within and around the words are also viewed from right to left. Consequently, we see that Islamic calligraphy not only relies on the content of the word, but the outward characterization of the word in order for the reader to gain full meanings (​By the Pen​ 46). This is echoed in Sheila Blair’s ​Islamic Calligraphy​, where Blair discusses the “... play between the form of the script and the meaning of the words” (​Islamic Calligraphy​ 7). It is in this practice of representation that religious meaning through art can be transmitted without idolatry. This is important because idolization or pictoralization of religious figures is discouraged in Islam; thus, Islamic calligraphy takes on the role of art in the religion, in which, “Writing in Arabic script thus became a signifier, or outward manifestation, of Islam” (​By the Pen​ 22). The importance of visual representation seen in other cultures and religions is replicated through written words rather than images in Islam (​By the Pen 2​ 6). In this art form, not only does context of the script matter to convey God’s words (through the Quran) as well other religious messages (hadiths), but so does the method of writing. The outward 7 In contrast to the left to right of the English language. 11 characterization of written words such as where and how they are written is important to allow the reader to go beyond the context of the word and to rely on the physical word itself to derive meaning (​By the Pen​ 36; Serikoff 11). Islamic calligraphy has a sole purpose of providing the closest visual representation of God’s words and the prominent figures that have influenced Islam without actual pictorial representation, where one can, “appreciate the unwavering line and modulated forms that reflect the transcendence of the Almighty” (​Islamic Calligraphy​ 7). Here, art not only includes words, but are the words themselves. As a result, in the process of the visualization of the word, we favor the importance of a physical word rather than a symbolic word. In Arabic, idolatry translates as ​shirk,​ which is considered a sin because by worshipping figures and images, it leaves room for people to worship more than God. This is considered a negative practice as to associate God with other divine forces is to limit God’s will and existence. This belief is stated within the Quran, to which, “Surely, Allah does not forgive that a partner is ascribed to Him, and He forgives anything short of that for whomsoever He wills. Whoever ascribes a partner to Allah commits a terrible sin” (Quran 4:48). Because the bounds of idolatization are not clearly defined, artists have combined the importance of writing and iconoclasm. Despite the unanimous feelings on the traditional purpose and importance of this expression of art, Islamic calligraphy does not exist within a uniform style. Islamic calligraphy forms are extensive, such as Kufic, Muhaqqaq, Naskh, Tawqi, Riqa, Shikasta, Thulth, and many other styles of Islamic calligraphy (Serikoff 16). Each of these styles differ as a result of their regional, cultural, and linguistic influencers. In the two examples of traditional Islamic calligraphy below, we see how use, style, and background vary despite both originating from the 12 late fourteenth to early fifteenth centuries (“Section of a Qur'an Manuscript”; “Panel of Four Calligraphic Tiles”). Figure 2: Section of Qur’an Manuscript by Umar Aqta The following lines are from the 40th chapter of the Quran, which roughly translate as, “... protector (21) That was because their messengers were coming to them with clear proofs, but they disbelieved, so Allah seized them. Indeed, He is Powerful ...” (“Section of a Qur'an Manuscript”; Quran 40:20-21). While the words of the Quran have never changed from the beginning of Islam, the multitude of styles, sizes, colors, etc., has led to the creation of many unique Quranic manuscripts. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Umar Aqta, an acclaimed left-handed calligrapher, had attempted to impress Amir Timur8 with the smallest Quranic manuscript ever written, but the Amir Timur remained unimpressed. As a result, Umar Aqta did the opposite and created what is considered the biggest Quran to date. It was so big that the manuscript supposedly was brought to the Amir on a cart. In itself, the manuscript page above is approximately one and a half feet tall and three feet wide. The letters are written in one 8 Amir Timur was the first of the Timur dynasty and founder of the Timurid Empire, which was located in Persia and Central Asia. As a conqueror of most of the Muslim-world, Amir Timur adopted many Islamic practices; therefore, he has been labelled by scholars as a Muslim (his sect within Islam remaining controversial among scholars). 13 of the most common calligraphic styles, Thulth,9 which is a style that has survived into present-day decorative and publicational uses (Serikoff 16). This particular style is characterized “on the principle that one-third of each letter has a slope,” in which its name, Thulth, literally means “one-third” in Arabic (Serikoff 16). Due to its large script, this style is used to write larger manuscripts of the Quran. Not only does Umar Aqta replace the more standard Kufic script with Thulth script in order to capture the largeness of his artwork, but uses this elegant, cursive script (as opposed to the angular Kufic script) to appeal to the Amir Timur (“A Monumental Qur'an”). In the end of this interesting story, the Amir was impressed by Aqta’s work and rewarded him with acclamation by displaying the Quran in Timur’s mosque in the original Timurid10 capital. Figure 3: Panel of Four Calligraphic Tiles In this second calligraphic example, four tile pieces, translate as, “What excellent companions are happiness and good fortune” (“Panel of Four Calligraphic Tiles”). The following inscription is repeated as the fourth tile begins. By looking at how the letters are joined, including letters that are normally not connected, this style can be characterized as Tawqi. This style is similar to the Thulth’s elegant, cursive style, but is distinguished by both the compression and connection of letters. Decorations such as these inscriptions on wall tiles were and still are 9 Can also be written as “Thuluth” The original Timurid capital was Samarkand, a city in modern-day Uzbekistan, before it was moved to Herat. 10 14 very common in Morocco and Spain. This specific inscription was made of stone and coated in “purple-black glaze,” located in Morocco (“Panel of Four Calligraphic Tiles”). The panel of tiles belonged to a larger collection of tiles that spanned the interior of a building. Most importantly, these tiles were located at eye-level, which is reflected in the connection of the letters allowing it to be both written and read with speed. Not only this, but this style was important to the structure of the panel of tiles, as the compressed letters are much shorter and horizontally inclined than other calligraphic styles. Interestingly, this style was most used in professional, political settings, allowing an observer to assume these particular panels were a part of a building belonging to authoritative figures of the time. Ultimately, while both Thulth and Tawqi scripts were invented by the same master calligrapher, Ibn Muqlah, Thulth style has outlived Tawqi style, which is now considered obsolete (Zakariya 24). Reading Words as Things Interestingly, many readers and viewers of Islamic calligraphy can simply see the art with or without the ability to understand the words and not lose the significance of the message. In this, the words become less like symbols that reference a real world object, but actual pieces a part of an image. Jila Peacock, a calligraffiti11 artist, says, “... the word became the image” (Stoughton). In this case, the words functions less as an element of writing and more as an element of art. This identity of a word is true for both traditional and contemporary Islamic calligraphy. I shall argue, using Bill Brown’s “Thing Theory,” that when an object is no longer doing what it is supposed to do, it loses its ability to be an object. Therefore, according to Brown, 11 ​A form of contemporary Islamic calligraphy that will be described and discussed in subsequent chapters. 15 the ​object​ becomes a​ thing,​ in which a ​thing​ is an abstract, not completely accurate or working form of the ​object ​(Brown 4). We look through objects because there are codes by which our interpretive attention makes them meaningful, because there is a discourse of objectivity that allows us to use them as facts. A ​thing, i​ n contrast, can hardly function as a window. We begin to confront the thingness of objects when they stop working for us: when the drill breaks, when the car stalls, when the windows get filthy, when their flow within the circuits of production and distribution, consumption and exhibition, has been arrested, however momentarily. The story of objects asserting themselves as things, then, is the story of a changed relation to the human subject and thus the story of how the thing really names less an object than a particular subject-object relation. (Brown 4) In chapter two, we will see that to a reader of ​Tender Buttons, a​ word is no longer doing what it is supposed to do when it no longer serves as a symbol or image due to its lack of connection to any definitive authorial meaning. Determinately, we see a different series of processes from Tender Buttons​ of why a word becomes a thing than in Islamic calligraphy. However, in a similar way that Gertrude Stein did not mimic the artistic process of cubism (Hilder 81), Gertrude Stein does not mimic the process of reading and viewing words in Islamic calligraphy. Just as in ​Tender Buttons​, words in Islamic calligraphy function separate from their standard roles as symbols. In effect, as we will see, the parallel between Gertrude Stein’s ​Tender Buttons and Islamic calligraphy allows readers to gain new insight into the cultural possibilities that are opened upon questioning the identity of words. This, therefore, allows readers to glimpse into the 16 possibilities that are opened when words are separated from their referential function. In the next chapter, I will build an argument to present the words in ​Tender Buttons​ as things. I do this in order to present words in Islamic calligraphy as holding an identical identity to the words in Tender Buttons.​ As a result, I would like to form the link between Gertrude Stein and Islamic calligraphers. Picasso’s Calligraphic Potential In forming the link between Gertrude Stein and Islamic calligraphy, it is Pablo Picasso who serves as the bridge between the two. Stein’s book, ​Picasso,12 allows one to build this bridge. While it is possible Stein was not thinking of calligraphy when writing ​Tender Buttons,​ it is also possible Stein was retrospectively thinking of calligraphy as an influence of ​Tender Buttons​ while writing ​Picasso.​ As I have established in this thesis thus far, Stein has been both influenced by and an influencer of various sources. What can be most agreed upon by critics is the mutual influence between Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso. In art gatherings, Stein had an eye for masterpieces, being cited as a major influencer of Picasso’s success, buying his work13 years before he had formed the world-renowned reputation he holds today. Not only was Stein a curator of art, but she also appeared as the object of desire in at least one important painting of her time, namely, in Picasso’s ​Portrait of Gertrude Stein.​ While Picasso’s work is largely important to interpreting Stein’s work, it is Stein who saw Picasso for all his potential during his early days as an artist and it was she again who understood Picasso’s exploration of experimentalism. In her book, ​Picasso,​ Stein calls to attention Picasso’s ability to create art that ​As well as other unlisted sources who discus Picasso’s “calligraphic” style, but who do not particularly recognize the style was influenced by “Saracen” calligraphy as Stein did in ​Picasso.​ 13 Some works include, but are not limited to, “A Little Girl with a Basket of Flowers,” “Head of a Woman,” “La Bouteille de Marasquin,” and “Portrait of Gertrude Stein.” 12 17 surpassed the conventions of time. Picasso was able to innovate paintings and drawings that ultimately resulted in his reputation as someone who knew what others “did not yet know” (​Picasso 5​ 0). It was Stein who recognized Picasso’s ability to pull and manipulate from unlikely sources in order to influence originality within his own work. She argues that this is precisely what he does with calligraphy, Picasso was able to bring forth an aesthetic tradition of over a thousand years and hundreds of master calligraphers14 and make it undoubtedly new. While Stein most focused on Picasso’s engagement with calligraphy in his works surrounding 1913 to 1917 and the 1924’s ​Mercure,​ it is in Picasso’s collaboration with Pierre Reverdy in his book ​Les Chant Des Morts (The Song of the Dead) t​ hat, “the birth of calligraphy [became] the joining of two discrete modes of the mark” (Small 166). In the piece below, Picasso’s red marks are complementary to Reverdy’s writing (Picasso). Figure 4: Pages from ​Les Chant Des Morts (​ 1948) The red painted lines, connected to filled and unfilled red painted circles, represent more than art to support the aesthetic of Reverdy’s book, but I believe represent a mixture of meaning between 14 Master calligraphers are professionally trained for years and must create a piece at the end of their training to be judged by a panel of master calligraphers. If approved, the student is granted their license, ​ijaza,​ in calligraphy. 18 the red marks and black writing in order to simulate a function neither art nor writing alone can accomplish alone. The words and paintings compile their functions into one, similar to that of the words in Islamic calligraphy. In its natural form, Islamic calligraphy represents an artistic representation of faith, where the words serve as physical pieces of an image without forming a concrete image or icon. In ​Les Chant Des Morts (The Song of the Dead),​ ​ P ​ icasso, with each page of poetry and red marks, creates his own representation of things as to how he imagines them rather than how he physically sees them (“Surrealism”). Figures 5 and 6: (5) Final stage curtain and (6) Photograph of scene from ​Mercure In the first image, the production team of the ballet, ​Mercure​, was able to replicate a painting of Picasso’s onto the stage curtain to be used as the final curtain drop (“Now Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale”). In this piece, we see “painting as a kind of writing,” in which Picasso adds an importance to the lines in his paintings in order to communicate his thoughts (Small 162). Here, Picasso was able to bypass the challenges of expressing “things seen” in order to express “things really known at the time of knowing them” (​Picasso​ 36). This, 19 to Picasso, was his moment of perfection (​Picasso​ 36). More so, in a way surrealist art15 rejected conscious thought in order to access the full potential of the imaginative mind, Picasso’s calligraphic style allowed him to express his art as he knew them in his mind rather than how he physically saw them (“Surrealism”). We see this in the second image, in which Picasso was also invited to complete the stage and costume designs of ​Mercure.​ It was in this ballet that Picasso used his calligraphic style to debut his practice of surrealism. As we have seen a word become a thing in Islamic calligraphy, and will once again, in Tender Buttons,​ we see both forms of expression creating an identical effect that Pablo Picasso had created, “as a picture that itself can be ‘read’” (Small 167). While language is typically defined as a mode of communication either written or spoken, we see that communication via language is recreated in Islamic calligraphy, various works by Picasso, and Stein’s ​Tender Buttons​. More specifically, it is in ​Tender Buttons​ that Gertrude Stein offers a shared manipulation of language. It was in Bob Perelman’s ​The Trouble with Genius,​ this idea is reinforced, in which, “Stein experimented [in ​Tender Buttons​ and other early works] with the basic mechanism of verbal representation, inventing, according to some views, a kind of written Cubism ...” (Perelman 129). Ultimately, in thinking about Picasso’s connection to calligraphy, we begin to center our focus on Stein. 15 Surrealism is defined as,“A twentieth-century literary, philosophical and artistic movement that explored the workings of the mind, championing the irrational, the poetic and the revolutionary” (“Surrealism - Art Term”).