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Faig Ahmed:  Constructing and Deconstructing Language in Rugs

Faig Ahmed: Constructing and Deconstructing Language in Rugs

Azerbaijani artist Faig Ahmed is an artist whose work focuses on the construction and deconstruction of traditional patterned rugs and carpets. Carpets were initially seen as a sophisticated form of writing rather than a decorative piece. Each element of the pattern was once a written sign. Ahmed’s work explores how a carpet is more a time structure than a graphical one.

In his recent installation, Thread Installation , he creates a visual deconstruction of the complex design of a rug. The patterns and outline of the rug start with the rectangular shape of the rug, but then the edges extend in long pieces of thread across the room. The effect is a rug that seems to be unraveled or created.
In his artist’s statement, Ahmed says “I’ve been always fond of investigating and researching every detail of anything that had interested me… I’m heretofore harried by a question others have left in childhood – “what is inside?” That’s why I’m changing habitual and visually static objects making them spatial, giving them a new depth. And this as if reveals the essence of this object – the object that was mediocre just a minute ago.”

Ahmed’s work can be see on his artist website www.faigahmed.com.

Image Source:
http://www.faigahmed.com/

 

Links:
http://www.faigahmed.com/

Tosa Market – New Food Alphabet in the Works

Tosa Market – New Food Alphabet in the Works

Last weekend Food Font was at the Tosa Farmers Market outside of Milwaukee, WI.  People were really excited about the project, and we made two (which is a record for the number of alphabets made at one event) alphabets, both an uppercase and lowercase alphabet.

The vegetables we used were from:
Jay’s Plant Shop – Eggplant
Petzold Farms – Carrots, Pattypan Squash
Wellspring – Purslane, Italian Dandelion, Egglplant

I met a lot of interesting people, and enjoyed the soup, cheese, and gluten free muffin samples that were available at the market this day.

Below are some image slideshows from the event. (Note: These images are not edited yet.)

Images of Tosa Market Alphabet


Images from the Event – People Making Letters

 

Links:
http://www.tosafarmersmarket.com/

http://www.foodfont.com 

Food Font – Coming to Tosa Market  Milwaukee, WI

Food Font – Coming to Tosa Market Milwaukee, WI

This weekend Food Font will be at the Tosa Farmers market from 8am-12 noon in Wauwatosa, which is on the west side of  Milwaukee, WI.  We will be making a food alphabet out of local food.

The market is located at: 7720 Harwood Ave, Wauwatosa, WI 53213.  One interesting fact:  The name Wauwatosa is the  after the Potawatomi word for firefly.

Stop by and make a letter if you are in the area!

Links:

www.tosafarmersmarket.com/

New Food Font Vegetable Alphabet from the Gordon Square Farmers Market Event

New Food Font Vegetable Alphabet from the Gordon Square Farmers Market Event

This past Saturday Food Font was at Gordon Square Farmer’s Market in Cleveland, OH.

The mood was relaxed and it was hot – but we had a great time making letters out of food from two local farms. I got a chance to eat a really good tamale, and meet the other farmers and vendors at the market.

Vegetables were from:
GGG (A guy, a girl, and a garden) – Tomatoes, kale, garlic, beans
Maggie’s Farm – Squash, cucumber, eggplant
Here are some pictures from the event:


Pictures of people making letters at the event.


Pictures of the Gordon Square Alphabet made at the event.

This Sunday – Petroleum In Me and On Me at the Drake Well Museum in Titusville, PA

This Sunday – Petroleum In Me and On Me at the Drake Well Museum in Titusville, PA

It has been my dream for many years to do one of my projects about petroleum at the site of the first commercial oil well, Drake Well, in Titusville, PA.  Well – it is coming true this Sunday.  I have not had much time to publicize the event, but it is Founders Day and the reopening of the museum so there could be anywhere from 500 to 1500 visitors.

I am going to be doing the My Petroleum (On Me and In Me) , an interactive live performance at the Drake Well site.  This piece explores how Petroleum is everywhere.

In a unique twist to the scavenger hunt, visitors are invited to check their clothes, bodies and purses to see what they have on them that originate from petroleum and to reflect on  the number of items that they may have used in the last 24 hours that come from petroleum.   People and their count of items are tracked  and every 30 minutes the person who used the most petroleum in a day gets a winning prize.

A visual list of the most used petroleum products is posted as a visual public pop-up graphic and also is available in printed, downloadable, and Google  map format. Participants will be encouraged to return with a larger item on the list  that they might have at home (like a cooler, pillow, or football) in return for a  souvenir/special prize.   The graphics and printed petroleum list has a design quality similar to graphics in the 1850s, the time period that the first oil boom occurred in Titusville, PA.

From the shoes that we wear, to the zippers on our  jackets, to the aspirin that we take for headaches. Lip balms, umbrellas, combs, dvds, eyeglasses, antihistamines, hair coloring, and many other objects are derived  from petroleum.  Oh, Petroleum!

I’m going to be busy this weekend – wearing two hats in a way.  A  Food Font activity in Cleveland on Saturday, and Petro In Me and On Me on Sunday, but it will be worth it!