I Have Seen Thousands of Stars and One Fell in AlUla

Desert X AlUla 2022
Under the patronage of The Royal Commission for AlUla
Curators: Reem Fadda, Raneem Farsi & Neville Wakefield
Administrators: Lluz Gyalui, Chelsea Guerdat, Mathieu White, Omar ALBraik, Nesma, Constantine, Ibrahim Abbas
Manufacturer: UAP Company
Photo credits: Desert X AlUla 2022, Lance Gerber.

VIDEO

The concept

Once upon a time, a daring star dreamt of being a desert rose, and chose to fall from the sky to the magical land of AlUla, landing into the life of a flower.

" ‘For ages I have been glowing
As one light among thousands.
For a short time, I wish to be living
As a flower emerging from the sand.”

Inspired by a vision of a star that dreamt of becoming a desert flower.

This installation explores the connection between eternal resplendence and ephemeral beauty. What could be more poetic in the majestic desert of AlUla than a dreamy star? Awakening the spiritual desert culture, the stars illuminate Arabic literature and evoke vivid imaginaries culled from the universe. The stars desire to land on earth reverses the aspirations of looking above to attain the stars. It unfolds and deconstructs dreams of domination of the heavens and brings them down to earth almost literally.   

For the installation, Alem adapted the technique of origami, the art of folding paper, to transform a flat, square sheet of material into a finished sculpture—without cuts or glue, as simple as this sculptural poetic dream. Through this technique, the artist wrapped her dream golden star with petals as blue as Alula's night,creating a unique sacred healing green color with a ripple-mirage- effect mirror surface that represents mirage and the hard journey it has travelled, and a mirrored surface that evokes the memory of the moon and the dazzling surrounding, all the while becoming one in the magnificent nature around. 

The merry star blossom rises in the desert of AlUla, mirroring the nature around it and mirroring the mirages of life, luring us to stop and take a breath to enjoy the world around us. The mirage will continue to exist, but to reside in it will always be a personal choice.

Technique/Structure

Dimension: 350cm x 350cm x 350cm
Medium: mirrored lacquered stainless steel
2 texters: smooth and rippled.
3 colors:  the heart is a golden lacquer smooth; the surrounding petals is a rippled navy-blue lacquer. And all the back side is a mirrored natural color mirrored stainless steel

Description of the work:
The front, is a golden heart with 8 ribs which form a shape of a star.
Around the golden heart is 4 concaved dark rippled blue petals which represent the sky in the night.
The back side is a mirrored stainless steel
The stem