Love is the Miracle of Civilization
On the occasion of St. Valentine’s day, leading artist eL Seed unveils a new drawing developed through the write&erase robot Scribit. eL Seed fuses Arabic lettering and graffiti to spread a universal message of love that overcomes language barriers, borders and stereotypes. The work is accessible through The Scribit App, through which users can download original art to their walls.
What is love in 2020? Scribit, the write&erase robot recently named TIME Invention of the Year, has collaborated with renowned calligraphy artist eL Seed to develop an original artwork dedicated to love: a force that moves beyond languages, borders, and stereotypes. The original drawing, called “Love is the Miracle of Civilization”, was developed through a unique fusion of Arabic calligraphy and graffiti technique and will be available for download through the Scribit’s App for Valentine’s day. The collaboration, named “Love in Translation” was made possible by Beatrice Trussardi, who joined Scribit to curate the Originals collection in late 2019.
Starting from the Arabic translation of French writer Stendhal’s famous quote “L'amour est le miracle de la civilization”, the drawing blends the historic tradition of Arabic calligraphy with a contemporary graffiti sensibility and communicates the message that “Love is the Miracle of Civilization”. As one of the world’s most translated words, “love” is expressed as an inclusive feeling to bring a message of unity. The artwork by eL Seed will premiere at MoMa design store in New York City on February 13th, where Scribit is currently displayed.
Artist eL Seed was born in France in 1981. Feeling a separation between his French identity and his Tunisian roots, he learned the Arabic script at the age of 18 and started experimenting with Arabic calligraphy to develop a distinctive style to spread messages of peace, unity and to underline the commonalities of human existence. His particular style of calligraphy focuses on the beauty of the forms of Arabic lettering, manipulated to be illegible even by native speakers, so as to achieve universal meaning.
"Love is the miracle of civilization" is the celebration of the universality of love through my style of calligraphy." says the artist. Arabic script, despite all the misconceptions and stereotypes attached to it, is a medium that eL Seed uses to connect people.
The collaboration with eL Seed is the seventh installment of the Scribit Originals series, which aims to bring artworks by the world’s leading artists, designers and public intellectuals to the Scribit platform.
