Abjad-9

Abjad is an alpha-numeric system of Gematria. Like Qabalah, Abjad is a decimal numeral system in which the twenty eight letters of the Arabic alphabetic are given numerical values. Abjad has often been used for the purpose of numerology; the system was popular from the sixteenth century to early twentieth century. It was extensively used in spells, religious charms and talismans, fortune-telling and the interpretations of Islamic scriptures like Koran. In the Abjad system, alpha-numeric values are formed based on the number 9. For this reason, the number 9 is the most significant element of Abjad. Numerical values associated with religious figures or words recurring in the Koran can either be reduced to the number nine or are composed of the number 9. Therefore, in traditional Abjad and the art of spell-forging in the Middle East, the number 9 is considered an essential bond, presenting the fundamental relations or irreducible connections between collective bodies and entities. The world as a collective constellation of relations and entities, according to the Abjad system, is built upon the number nine and its variations.

Abjad-9 works are explorations which diagram the characteristics, nomadic lineaments and feminine aspects of chadors and women as collective entities. Each drawing or animation from the Abjad-9 series presents a different mode of collectivity between women who wear chador [see chador] in interactions with other women or fabrics. Correspondingly, Abjad-9 works capture the affect space between women in chadors, together with their movements, folds of drapery, socio-political collectivity, transition of spells and finally subterranean bonds and connections. Abjad-9 demonstrates various collective spaces made by women in veil. The 'findings' of Abjad-9 explorations are also used as structures in my other works, such as in the sewing construction of Nomadic Fabric Chadors [see nomadic fabric chadors] or spell formulations in Spell Chadors [see spell chador].

Abjad-9 works depict half-elliptical shaped chadors seen from above in anomalous conjunctions with each other. These conjunctions and collective shapes sometimes as a whole suggest patterns associated with Islamic art. In the Abjad-9 series, each half-elliptical shape represents the twofold of chador-woman; they are in fact chadors which have been spread or pulled at the edges seen from above [see chador pattern].

Each Abjad-9 work attempts to explore new structures and movements, the configuration of multiple chadors in regard to negative space and the identities of women who wear them. They are, in a sense, maps for movement of women through new collective territories fabricated by chadors. Once traversed over a territory, movement makes things contagious; the chador worn by a woman blurs into its surroundings as it undulates through space. That is why, when it comes to chador, there is no single woman but only collectivities of women, zones of interconnected undulations and waves. In Abjad-9, drawings suggest that the undulations of every chador or its unfolding movements are not merely movements as relocations or displacements within a territory; they are rather movements which define territorial functions. The undulations of each chador change the territorial functions assigned to that specific chador as well as the woman who wears it. In Abjad-9, while women in chador are heavily influenced by the territory they are traversing, they shape the territory as well.

Corresponding with the concept of Van der Waals force in chemistry, the connections and bonds between chadors depict the chemistry of feminine collectivity within the socio-political environment. Each string of force, once encompassed, is able to effectuate a collective metamorphosis, transforming the interacting women in chadors to a body whose collective form is itself undulating and transient yet free-floating. The political image of women in black chadors chanting in demonstrations, at first glance, represents the dissolution of identities to a black fabric river, a dissolution which is either in favor of a religious cause or instigated by the State. Yet, the literal black river of women in chador (veiled women) is in fact attesting to the transient but deeply collective experience of wearing a chador (both from its drapery and socio-political aspects). No established order can reliably attach to a collective body whose collectivity, inclinations and movements are perpetually changing in unpredictable directions.

In 2008 'Abjad-9' ink drawings and an animation entitled 'ninefold' were shown along with Nomadic Fabric Chadors at Azad Gallery in Tehran, Iran as part of a solo exhibition entitled 'nonad' [see image from show]. A review article entitled Unfolding the Middle East: Kristen Alvanson's Nonad written by Robin Mackay has been published in Umelec International contemporary art and culture magazine Issue 2/2008. An Abjad-9 animation was also shown at the 2008 Klebnikov Carnaval in Belgium.