Rememberance
"Remembrance"; Water, tiles, mirrors, text, dry pigment, motion sensor, drip hose; 30'W x 75'L x 12'H, ©1996 Seyed Alavi
This installation consisted of a 12'W x 30'L x 9" D pond located at the center of a room that measures 30'W x 75'L x 12'H. The pond is tiled with 4.5" cobalt blue ceramic tiles, except for the floor of the pool which is covered with 9"x 9" mirror tiles.
The text of poem, by the 12th century Persian poet Attar, is reproduced on the mirror tiles by covering the background and leaving the letters as mirror. These words are then reflected (in reverse) onto the walls by utilizing spot lights that are directed at the pond.
Falling from the ceiling into the pond, are small drops of water that drip from eight spots. A motion sensor, connected to a water pump, controls the frequency of the drips. The pond is still until the sensor detects a movement in the room, which then causes drops of water to fall and disturb the still surface of the water.
This agitation breaks the reflection of the words, yet once the water is still again, the words reappear and become legible. The walls are painted in a warm golden yellow, and covered from floor to ceiling with a diaper floral design.
This design is created in dry purple pigment that has been pounced through a pattern with holes, resulting in a dotted-line drawing. Seyed Alavi
Conference of the Birds
And there you are suspended, motionless,
Till you are drawn
the impulse is not yours-
A drop absorbed in seas
that have no shores.
First lose yourself,
then lose this loss and then
Withdraw from all
that you have lost again-
Go peacefully,
and stage by stage progress
Until you gain
the realms of Nothingness.
-- Attar
| * Rememberance | * Here |
