sound: mike hallenbeck
2009
2 mins 16 secs
La Ilaha Illa’llah (2009-2010), a video projection in 4 parts: Tornado, Volcano, mudslide and Wild Fires. Drawn from appropriated footage of natural disasters found on the Internet, La Ilaha Illa’llah transforms the images into a succession of painterly eruptions, demonstrating the power of beauty even at times of calamity and chaos, as suggested by eighteenth-century philosopher Edmund Burke’s concept of the sublime. The title of the work derives from an account from the life of thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi, who was described as whirling in devotion to Allah, chanting “la illa-ha illa’illah” until he fell into a trance of deep worship.

sound mike hallenbeck