Have you seen it yet?
It’s safe to say that The Dubai Mall is a bit of a marvel—show us another shopping centre with a 10-million litre aquarium—but this is an excellent addition.
The Downtown landmark is now home to 1.78, a sculpture by American fibre artist Janet Echelman. It’s set over the Dubai Fountain and can be viewed from the mall’s waterfront promenade.
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Part of the artist’s Earth Time series, 1.78 is made up of almost 124 kilometres of string tied in 600,000 knots. Devised in bright, firey tones, the sculpture shifts and changes in the wind. The work is an exploration of cyclical time, Echelman says.
Here’s a shot of it against its Burj Khalifa backdrop:
Slightly amazing, right? It’s even more striking by night, when the strings are illuminated by coloured lights.
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Lightweight and portable in nature, the work is designed to be transported and displayed all over the world. It came to Dubai after a time in Spain, on display in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor over the winter.
That connectedness is very much Echelman’s point. In addition, as it shifts, the work affords each individual viewer their own experience.
Other works in the Earth Time series have been exhibited across Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, making this a truly global experience.
Well suited to an international city like Dubai, don’t you think?
Aside from all that, it’s also just gorgeous to look at. Worth a trip to Downtown Dubai, we’d say.
Images: Supplied
