DESERT BREATH

description: a site specific Earthwork, located in El Gouna, Egypt

artist: D.A.ST. arteam (Danae Stratou, Alexandra Stratou, Stella Konstantinidis)

materials: sand, salt water

year: 1997

Desert Breath is a group project created by D.A.ST. arteam, (Danae Stratou, Alexandra Stratou, Stella Konstantinidis). It is a site specific Earthwork, located in El Gouna-Egypt, in the eastern desert bordering the Red Sea. The work covers an area of 100.000 sq.metres and its construction involves the displacement of 8.000 cubic meters of sand. 89 positive and 89 negative conical volumes form two interlocking logarithmic spirals that move out from a common center. The center is a 1200 cubic meter earthen vessel formed by the intersection of the positive and negative cone.

Located between the sea and a body of mountains at the point where the immensity of the sea meets the immensity of the desert, the work functions on two different levels in terms of viewpoint: from above as an image, and from the ground, walking the spiral pathway, as a physical experience.

The construction of Desert Breath was sponsored by Orascom P.T.D. and was completed in March 1997. The moment of completion, time zero, marks the beginning of its slow transformation by the forces of nature, as the work becomes an instrument that measures the passage of time.

photography: D.A.S.T. arteam, Sherin El Semary