FEMALE FOOTSTEPS
Arabic typography emerges from the harmony that connects each letter individually in order to create a beautiful word, both in meaning and visual. This installation is based on an Arabic poem by ردينة مصطفى الفيلالي titled خطوات أنثى (Rodayna Mostapha Al Filali - The Footsteps Of Females). The poem voices the anger, weakness and outbreak of sorrow of the poet's love betrayal.
The connected nature between a poet and her words was replicated in what material can best mimic this pain through typographic experimentations. The research about the poet expressed how her shield was broken and only her words held her together. That was the leading metaphor.
The transparent acrylic material was chosen to symbolise the transparency behind the poetic rhymes unveiled with each verse. The voices of shouting, anger and whispers were loud enough to convey dynamic typographic visuals. The Arabic typography visuals were carved on the cylinders, translating emotion through shapes and depth in removing layers by carving the material; depicting how he had scared her.
The cylinders are rolled and overlap in visuals to further drive the entrapped emotion in this one box that hold all bare emotions. The illusion is an ongoing rotation that simulates symphony and harmony when all graphics are moved together. The control the person has over which cylinder to slide is the replication of the control he had over the poet. The audience builds their own rhythm with this experience.
