Minaret
Performance, 2001- ongoing
Mosque alarm clock, megaphone
Various locations
In Minaret, access is gained to an architecturally appropriate rooftop at the five designated times of prayer. An alarm clock acquired in Jordan plays the entire adhan from an embedded digital chip and, with the help of a megaphone for amplification, the call is sounded.
Minaret gallery
Minarets are the towers of mosques from which the adhan, the call to prayer, is sung by the muezzin five times of the day. The earliest minarets were appropriated Greek watchtowers or any tall architectural structure with an open balcony. Eventually, minarets were included in the overall plan of mosques. Today, the sound of the call is standard in public spaces in the Middle East, North Africa, Indonesia, Pakistan, and India. In Manhattan, where there is a large Muslim population, the call to prayer, if it is sung publicly at all, is usually broadcast at a low volume by mosques, often at ground level.