ESHRAQ (Work in Process) is a speculative video installation that reinterprets the Illuminationist philosophy of 12th-century Persian thinker Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi through the lens of digital simulation and computation. It asks what Suhrawardi might have built if he had access to a computer, translating his metaphysics of light and “knowledge by presence” into a system of virtual architectures, agents, and environments. Drawing on ancient Persian, Islamic, and Neoplatonic thought, the work explores reality as degrees of illumination and visibility within a non-linear, computational field.

Set within a reconstructed Ziggurat of Ur, the installation merges cinematic sequences, simulation, and game logic to stage encounters between mythic beings, historical fragments, and digital architectures. References to Reza Negarestani’s ideas on computational reason inform its philosophical grounding, positioning the work as a metaphysical laboratory where history, mythology, and technology converge. In this world, illumination becomes both structure and medium, an experiential system where knowledge, presence, and world-building intertwine.

My role in this project encompassed sound design and music composition, with a focus on shaping the sonic texture of the experience in resonance with the philosophy of Hekmat-e Eshraq (Illuminationist philosophy). In developing the sound world of ESHRAQ, I aimed to design and select timbres that reflect its metaphysical concepts. Through my research, I found that this philosophical tradition often refers to certain sounds such as the sound of wind, the ney (reed flute), the naqqāreh (ceremonial drum), the call of the hoopoe, and the chime as luminous manifestations and symbolic expressions of existence. These references became the foundation of my sound design process. Using techniques like physical modeling and granular synthesis, I transformed these archetypal sounds into otherworldly textures, sonic forms that seem to emerge from another realm while still carrying the spectral memory of their original essence.

More information: https://alllesss.com/ESHRAQ

Role: Musician/Sound Designer