Khaled Sabsabi
70,000 Veils
Sabsabi’s work transgresses borders and encourages cross-cultural dialogue, focussing critical attention on experiences related to conflict, ideologies and spirituality.
2014
100 channel digital video, 100 LCD monitors, 3D glasses, sound
Dimensions variable
About
The title of Khaled Sabsabi’s work originates from the Prophet Mohammed’s teaching that ‘there are 70 000 veils of light and darkness separating the individual from the divine.’ In 70,000 Veils, Sabsabi explores the depths of this teaching, exploiting the infinite possibilities of digital image rendering and media technology to contemplate its spiritual essence and application within a lived reality. Each of the 100 monitors in this installation plays an individual file of 700 photographs composited over the top of each other. Each file plays for 700 seconds each before repeating, producing a random installation of 70 000 images. The images are photographs of the everyday taken over the last 10 years of the artist’s career and include architectural features, streetscapes, and photos of media propaganda taken during his travels to the Middle East.
Sabsabi’s practice often draws from Islamic Sufism and its teachings about the infinite, however, he takes a transgressive stance – refuting religious doctrine in favour of more expansive, complicated approaches.
70,000 Veils is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts
Presented as part of: Experimenta Recharge: 6th International Biennial of Media Art, which toured Australia in 2014–2016.
The Artist
Khaled Sabsabi
Sabsabi’s work transgresses borders and encourages cross-cultural dialogue, focussing critical attention on experiences related to conflict, ideologies and spirituality.