RMIT University Library – Learning Lab

Khaled Sabsabi
Experimenta Recharge | RMIT University
Artist statement (256 words)

https://youtu.be/UoEw3jbeqKw

Video transcript

The work ‘70,000 veils’ has taken seven years to make. Of course, initially I didn't have an idea what the work will look like or what will eventuate in that time. The work in terms of the process, consists of ten thousand still images taken from my travels of four or five years and then these images are taken and then deconstructed layer for layer to form ten thousand different layers, and then those layers are reconfigured and composited again to form 70,000 veils then they’re animated. 

What inspires the work: Rūmī, Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī - known as a poet in the West but he was a mystic, a Sufi mystic said, “between the individual and the divine there are 70,000 layers and none between the divine and the individual’, and this inspired me and got me thinking about not just from a metaphysical view but also from physical life. I mean you walk into the work; you can choose not to put on the 3d glasses you can choose to put them on. 

For me that that symbolizes life generally - you can walk through life and have a rewarding life and you would never have to think about if there is anything out there, or you can cross a threshold, a rite of passage and behind the work is all the wires and the sticky tape and the glue and the bolts and the nuts, and the wood frame and so on. Essentially, it's the workings behind the universe, held by nails and bolts.