Aliya Orr

The talismanic practice of magic squares, some of the first algorithmic formulae, were key to developments in mathematics as well as the understanding of Sufi philosophical principles and child birthing practices. The Arabic term for a magic square is wafq al-a’dad, “the harmonious disposition of numbers”. These systems of organization were mathematical formulas and cosmological models. Through studying this practice as ritual meditations, I have been reflecting on my own history and relationships. I see these works as a performance, made in one sitting, on repurposed book boxes from Amazon packages. The drawings are expressions of personal knowledge systems and migration, situated between the sacred and the disposable.