God Shaped Hole is designed to spark critical dialogue on the flattening of Muslim identities and the harm it inflicts on members of the community and allies. Working in both New York and Pakistan, I employed research-based creative practices to examine identity, individuality, and socioreligious collectivism, using participatory methods to create artifacts dealing with themes such as ethnoviolence, (re)presentation, hostility, and safety.

“We [the artists] used over 8000 single-use razor blades collected from Muslim-majority neighborhoods as our primary medium. The main focus was to leverage material and imagery to speak to the complex themes that had emerged as insights through the research process. Each piece, in its own way, does exactly that.

“At no point do we use any glue. The razor blades themselves have been weaved and interlocked to hold one another into the form [of a prayer mat]. There’s no glue, it’s all a collaborative exercise in weaving, connecting, and patience.

“This materiality and treatment are intended to capture the tension between the individual and the collective. While each DNA-laden blade stands in for the individual and holds the structure together, the objects created from their union are symbolic of a socio-religious collectivism much bigger than the sum of its parts.”

See more research and project details here: https://readymag.website/u2587753364/4559485