The Duck
This is an image of a duck who is too proud of her purity because she is always performing ablations in water. I chose to represent the duck in the way I did for a number of reasons. First of all, it is not an artistic rendering, but rather a photograph of a duck I took while at the Boston Common. I do not have much artistic ability myself, so I figured the best way to represent the bird I was given would be through a photographic medium. I was, however, able to edit the photograph of the duck through the free Pixlr photo editor software online. Not only did I edit the shading and coloring of the photo through the software, but I also included a prose text that I wrote myself. I felt as though the mere photograph did not do much justice for the tale of the Duck in Conference of the Birds, so I decided to add a prose piece alongside it chronicling the experience of coming to the realization of the folly of only trusting the water for life’s salvation. The duck in this photograph submerges its beak in the water, and will only remain with water’s false promises. A stone lies off to her side, representing a stone turbah of Islam, a prayer stone. The duck presents herself as pious and pure, with her prayer rituals and purity of always washing herself in the water. Yet, just like the duck in the photograph, she will not look above to see the real promise of God right beyond the water, but rather bury her head into her superficial purity.
The background music is an original composition for Santur by Danial Shariat.