Mirage: Eigenstate

Commissioned by Gasworks, London.

On Mirage the series:

Riar Rizaldi’s films explore the roots and repercussions of modern science and advanced technology on the social, political, and cultural life of humans and nonhumans in Southeast Asia. His latest work is a dialogue between particle physics and ideas about the nature of God in tropical Sufi mysticism. It introduces the life and work of sixteenth-century Sumatran philosopher, poet, and Sufi mystic Hamzah Fansuri. In his writings, Fansuri conjectured that God infiltrates every aspect of the universe, down to the smallest particle, and the universe itself is God’s radiating holographic projection on a two-dimensional plane. Toward the end of his life, Fansuri was deemed a heretic and he and his disciples persecuted. His ideas, however, anticipated by several hundred years breakthroughs in particle physics—the notion that the universe is composed of subatomic particles including both matter and antimatter—as well as the holographic principle—the theory that the universe is, in fact, two-dimensional.

Episode 2

Duration 30'02"

The second episode, Mirage – Eigenstate (2024), weaves together analogous investigations into the nature of reality, positioning Western science as just one methodology among many in a constellation of pluralistic worldviews. The film explores different interpretations of reality, from Sufi mysticism and Monorealism to theories of quantum mechanics. Edited in the style of American astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan’s 1980s television show, Cosmos, which sought to explain the origin of life and the fourth spatial dimension, Mirage – Eigenstate references scientific mass communication, where complex concepts are described in straightforward ways, often through images.

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Film still

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Installation view at Riar Rizaldi: Mirage, Gasworks, London, UK (2024).

Single-channel, 3:2 format, colour and sound (stereo), 30 min 02 sec, with built environment of aperiodic tiles floor made from Merapi volcanic ash and sand

Image courtesy of Gasworks. Photo by Dan Weill.

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Mirage: Theophany - the comic

Published by Gasworks London.

This comic book elucidates the origins of the Mirage project through a fictional-historical narrative centered on Hamzah Fansuri's discovery of God within a particle. The illustrations employ a stylistic amalgamation of wafak aesthetics (Islamic amulets), Sufi manuscripts from the Indonesian archipelago, and Kirby-esque cosmic landscapes. The paper quality mirrors that of Indonesian underground comics, and the work is produced using a malfunctioning offset printing machine, ensuring that each edition features a distinctive colour print. This unique production process not only enhances the visual appeal but also underscores the interplay between art and spiritual inquiry within the narrative framework.

Written and concept by Riar Rizaldi. Illustration by Arda Awigarda.

Mirage: Theophany is currently available at Riar Rizaldi: Mirage solo exhibition at Gasworks.

48 pages, hardcover, 21 x 15 cm, Edition of 1000

Image courtesy of Gasworks. Photo by Dan Weill.