The two murals are a part of a concerted effort in ‘gardening’
Al-Bukhary International University (AIU), to turn it into an OASIS (Of
Art and Science Inspiring Sustainability). They are are more than just a mural in a conventional sense. They can be read as
Virtual Information Electronic Walls, or in short, VIEW. They embody a
shifting paradigm in managing, sharing and disseminating living and
breathing information. They perform as an interface that informs,
communicates and engages all AIU stakeholders with its Vision and
Mission, its ‘humaniversity’ tagline and its core values. In doing so,
they echo AIU’s value propositions, both tangible and intangible.
The
design approach compliments the architectural concept and look of AIU,
inspired mostly by several icons of Islamic knowledge in science,
technology and the arts. The murals are framed by a series of arches,
placed at two elevated corridors at two wings of the administrative
building. The corridors are separated by a pedestrian pathway, which
links the building to AIU central square. The design of the building is
inspired by a Mughal Palace in Northern India.
The repeated motifs or
visual invocations are based on two intersecting squares, enclosed by a
circle, thus creating other interlocking shapes and patterns, such as a
star. The star motif is rather prominently featured in many parts of the
AIU buildings, both indoor and outdoor. The patterns can be related to
Islamic Arabesque, Buddhist Mandala, Indian Kolam and many other forms
of schematic design found in traditional Eastern cultures. They can be
taken as an inter-connected quantum field, from which myriads of
tangible but transient physical AIU activities (in this case, as
embodied by the flat screens) are manifested in so many different ways.
The physical patterns are complimented by the virtual patterns on the
flat TV screens, occasionally appear as intervals between the screened
information. All the AIU activities that will be screened in the future,
will seem to manifest from this shared, harmonious, balanced and
orderly quantum field.
Such schematic design, that can be traced in
many forms of traditional art in the East, embodies ‘local wisdom’ or a
shift in consciousness that leads us to witness and experience ‘living’
in the most natural and harmonious way. The approach also aptly reminds
us of several key states of a peaceful mind, such as simultaneity,
variety, inter-connected, inter-linked, inter-dependent, non-linear,
multiple centers, cyclical and dynamic. All are entangled in infinite
probabilities (of seeing and experiencing) until the moment of
‘witnessing’ by a conscious audience. This design approach is an apt
description of quantum waves function, of the relationship between the
micro and macro and the working of our brain across the time-space
dimension.
Hopefully, the murals may remind us of our place within the
larger and inter-connected whole. We share the same origin. We are all
an inter-dependent part of the whole Universe. All the activities that
our creative brain may churn out, are a part of a vast quantum field of
infinite wisdom, within and beyond. The Universe is created for us to
exist and bear witness, to unveil greatness that is already within all
of us, everyday, every moment, every now.
We are essentially the
appointed gardeners in the diversified field of energy. We are the
container of secrets within secrets. As we engage in myriads of
activities in the unifying OASIS GARDEN of AIU, we will hopefully be
awakened, to unveil greatness that already lies within everyone and
everything.
Hasnul J Saidon August 2012.
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