Nora Rodriguez

The Halal Paradise (Series)

This project marks a surprising collaboration and friendship between myself and Ahmed, the owner of several Halal trucks in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The project has a branching structure: it exists both as an LED animation on Halal trucks in New York’s Time Square and Atlantic Avenue Barclay’s Center, as well a very short video documenting the origins of our work together.

Above: Video documentation of The Halal Paradise, on view at 4th avenue & Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

Above: Photo of The Halal Paradise, on view at 7th avenue and 47th street in Manhattan.

Ahmed and I met by chance. I live near one of his Halal trucks, which is a frequent source of dinner for me. I had been spending time taking video of the LED sign on his truck because I was interested in its beautiful geometry and text. I thought I might make an animation inspired by it. That’s when Hany, Ahmed’s brother and a frequent server on the truck, asked what I was doing. After we struck up a conversation, Hany offered to let me speak directly with Ahmed about the sign. From there, the idea of our collaboration grew. What you’ll hear on the video about our collaboration is an excerpt from our very first conversation, when Ahmed introduced the idea of creating an animation together.