{"id":484705,"date":"2026-05-14T18:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/484705\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:13:17","slug":"faig-ahmed-weaves-mysticism-science-technology-and-craft-into-the-attention-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/484705\/","title":{"rendered":"Faig Ahmed Weaves Mysticism, Science, Technology, and Craft into ‘The Attention’ \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faig Ahmed<\/a> is known for his vibrant textile sculptures that take traditional Azerbaijani ornamental carpets as starting point, often appearing to melt, pool, or glitch<\/a>. In his current solo presentation at the 61st Venice Biennale, where he is representing Azerbaijan, the Baku-based artist branches out into more conceptual territory, exploring science, alchemy, spirituality, and perceptions of self in a sprawling, maze-like installation called The Attention.<\/p>\n

Curated by Gwendolyn Colla\u00e7o, the exhibition expands upon Ahmed\u2019s interest in the dialectic between digital processes and time-honored, hand-crafted techniques. The artist considers how advanced scientific inquiry, such as quantum physics and neuroscience, relates to how we \u201carticulate cosmologies of belonging,\u201d says a statement.<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a>\u201cGarden of Awakening\u201d (2026), directional audio system<\/p>\n

Ornamental carpets continue as a through-line in The Attention, undulating, scrunching, distending, and balling up through a series of rooms. They even extend outdoors, creating a kind of continuous runner that spills out of doorways and stretches into long lines of color.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhmed bridges the 15th-century Hurufi<\/a> mystic tradition\u2014which viewed the universe as a coded text\u2014with modern information theory,\u201d says a statement. \u201cBy channeling the \u2018human energy\u2019 of the weave, he uses this ancient textile paradigm to address our era\u2019s information overload and collective grief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed taps into a theoretical framework coined by physicist John Wheeler that can be summed up, rather enigmatically, as \u201cit from bit.\u201d It\u2019s a short way of describing an approach to information theory<\/a> that string theorists and quantum mechanics researchers have tested. In other words<\/a>, \u201c\u2026every it\u2014every particle, every field of force, even the spacetime continuum itself\u2014derives its function, its meaning, its very existence entirely\u2014even if in some contexts indirectly\u2014from the apparatus-elicited answers to yes-or-no questions, binary choices, bits.\u201d<\/p>\n

In The Attention, the binaries of \u201cit from bit\u201d are not only present in the way digital methods and the physical labor of the loom converge but also in Ahmed\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>Detail of \u201cAncestors\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0have always been drawn to exploring consciousness for as far back as I can remember,\u201d he says in a statement, continuing:<\/p>\n

\n

This search has guided my attention in two directions: on one hand, toward science\u2014biology, physics, and mathematics\u2014and on the other, toward spirituality, art, poetry, and creative expression. At first glance, these fields appear opposite, even contradictory. One form of knowledge is directed out-ward, toward what can be measured, calculated, observed, and verified. The other turns inward, toward the subjective, the unprovable, and the inexpressible. It is an experience that cannot be confirmed or fully shared with another, just as it is impossible to truly know what it feels like to be someone else.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Merging 15th-century Hurufi mysticism with science, digital interfaces with the analog, and introspective personal experiences with objective data, Ahmed\u2019s carpets guide visitors through the immersive space. The largest one, a monumental machine-woven piece, is titled \u201cI Can Contain Both Worlds But I Do Not Fit Into This One.\u201d It forms what the artist describes as a \u201cbreathing body\u201d that climbs the architecture, knots itself, collapses, and spills. \u201cAncestors,\u201d a faintly anthropomorphic wall piece that glows psychedelically in black light is woven by hand. And a work called \u201cEntropy Altar\u201d uses a quantum random number generator<\/a> to translate visitor presence into an evolving language.<\/p>\n

The Attention remains on view through November 22 at Campo della Tana, Castello 2124\/A\u20132125, Venice. See more on Ahmed\u2019s Instagram<\/a> and Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a>Installation view of \u2018The Attention\u2019<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cAncestors\u201d (2026), handmade wool carpet, 170 x 385 centimeters<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cThe Knot\u201d (2026), part of \u201cI Can Contain Both Worlds But I Do Not Fit Into This One,\u201d 200 centimeters in diameter<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>Detail of \u201cI Can Contain Both Worlds But I Do Not Fit Into This One\u201d<\/p>\n

\"an<\/a>\u201cI Can Contain Both Worlds But I Do Not Fit Into This One\u201d (2026), site-specific machine-printed carpet spanning all seven rooms<\/p>\n

\"artist<\/a>Faig Ahmed at the entrance to \u2018The Attention\u2019<\/p>\n

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