99 Names of Allah and the Glassmaker

August 1, 2010 8:23 AM

Andrew Kosorok, a sculpture professor, has embarked on a project to create 100 glass sculptures inspired by the 99 Names of Allah.

He has found many similarities between Islam and the Mormon faith during his research for the project.

posted by reenum (26 comments total)

It's an interesting idea for a project. I hope it doesn't end up sparking outrage. His work is beautiful.
posted by hippybear at 8:42 AM on August 1, 2010

Good luck with that, Andy!
posted by ReeMonster at 8:47 AM on August 1, 2010

99 names and Moroni ain't one. These are stunning and the uncynical hippy in me hopes it's a way forward, for local groups at least.
posted by shinybaum at 8:51 AM on August 1, 2010

But what inspired the hundredth one?
posted by TwelveTwo at 8:53 AM on August 1, 2010

Then, one by one, the stars went out.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2010 [9 favorites]

this is like a glass stick in the eye for some people, isn't it?
posted by pyramid termite at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2010

but seriously, this is pretty cool
posted by pyramid termite at 8:58 AM on August 1, 2010

From the second link comments:

There is even a greater similarity between the LDS, and the Jehovahs witnesses.

Why not go down to the Kingdom Hall, and see if you can strike up a conversation with them. May the YHWH be with you.

I think the works it cool (from what you get to see), but the execution is pretty stupid. "Hey, I did research on this other religion, and it's like mine, so I am going to make some shit inspired by my research!" Might want to do a little more research there Andrew.

I'm all in favor of pissing people off. I'm all in favor of challenging people's beliefs. Pretending this is something other than either of those two things is dumb.

Sure, his motives might be pure, but if you come from a country where the highest form of respect is pissing on something, you might want to look into how another culture views those things before you go pissing in their Cheerios.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:04 AM on August 1, 2010

"if you come from a country where the highest form of respect is pissing on something..."

What country is that?
posted by The Hamms Bear at 9:15 AM on August 1, 2010

Pissylvania.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:17 AM on August 1, 2010 [13 favorites]

Some beautiful artwork.
posted by Fizz at 9:18 AM on August 1, 2010

But what inspired the hundredth one?

Camels, I should imagine
posted by IndigoJones at 9:29 AM on August 1, 2010

I liked this quote:

"You can't force glass," he said. "It's not like watercolor where you can push it to do different things. Glass doesn't respond prettily when you force it. You have to listen to it, feel what it's trying to tell you."

posted by symbioid at 9:31 AM on August 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

#101: Allah-yourbasearebelongtous?
posted by fuq at 9:39 AM on August 1, 2010

Also, this is really beautiful art.
posted by fuq at 9:40 AM on August 1, 2010

Who would this piss off? Islamic art invokes the name of Allah all the time, in calligraphy, in non-representational design, and in architecture. The sculptures shown along with the article seem to be well within the bounds of Islamic art traditions, and as long as there isn't a picture of a person or an animal, I can't see why this would spark outrage.

I'm not an expert on Islamic art by any means, but these works look very much like what I've seen during a few years helping curate exhibits by Muslim artists.
posted by xingcat at 9:53 AM on August 1, 2010

He is pandering to the perceived rich.
posted by Oyéah at 10:43 AM on August 1, 2010

The art market in Utah is more than slow. Even I have thought about Dubai.
posted by Oyéah at 10:43 AM on August 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm a little embarrassed that my second thought on seeing this was "Wow, that's a really beautiful and intricate sculpture"...

...mainly because my first thought was "Man, I could roll a kick-ass saving throw with that".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:55 AM on August 1, 2010 [6 favorites]

I'm disappointed the articles didn't address how regular and semi-regular solids came to represent the name "Allah."

Here in Seattle, we create playground equipment based on those shapes.
posted by Tube at 11:08 AM on August 1, 2010

I'm disappointed the articles didn't address how regular and semi-regular solids came to represent the name "Allah."

Here in Seattle, we create playground equipment based on those shapes.
posted by Tube at 2:08 PM on August 1

Heh.
posted by Decani at 11:16 AM on August 1, 2010

> But what inspired the hundredth one?

The article doesn't say. Traditionally, the 99 names are those which humans can perceive the effects of. The hundredth is regarded as being known exclusively by God (though there is much speculative debate). There are purportedly thousands more accessible to angels that are too subtle for men or otherwise not in this universe.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2010

I thought Allah had nine billion names.
posted by storybored at 6:13 PM on August 1, 2010

Thus sayeth Clarke.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:01 PM on August 1, 2010

What country is that?

I was going for an anthropological abstract, a hypothetical, and failed I guess. I just meant he needs to do his research and make sure the people he is honoring are cool with the honor. I can give actual examples of where people fail at this type of things, but I was just making one up.

This said, sounds like I am the one that needs to do the research. I knew there was a prohibition against representational art, so I made the assumption that these would be verboten since they are inspired by the names of Allah. I guess I made the jump that this too would be considered idolatry.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:48 PM on August 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

This said, sounds like I am the one that needs to do the research. I knew there was a prohibition against representational art, so I made the assumption that these would be verboten since they are inspired by the names of Allah. I guess I made the jump that this too would be considered idolatry.

Nope. It's only idolatry if he were making these sculptures then asserting that they were worthy of worship or had equal share with that which they are naming. One could probably find a Wahabi imam that would sneer at this, but it's really benign. The Names are written on the walls of mosques all over the world.
posted by Burhanistan at 6:27 PM on August 2, 2010