‘Geography of Hope’. Every scientific theory contains an element of poetry —the poetic refraction of light is summed up in the “phenomenon of mirage.” The mirage brought hope to the souls of desert inhabitants, taught them patience, and gave them the luxury of dreaming; imagining water so that they could propel each step, providing the determination to reach their destination. The desert mirage was a long-lived inspiration, saving the desert people from death and carrying them from fatigue and despair and giving them the ability to continue on. Even after they knew that it was an unreachable mirage, it remained in their souls as a cause for hope and deliverance. This work seeks to manifest the experience of reaching out to the mirage and capturing it for the first time. The intangible reality of the mirage and its history in desert heritage and Islamic culture served as the artist’s inspiration to transmute imagination and dreams into reality in the AlUla desert. This was done by creating platforms above the ground that align with the mountains and the geographic and geological soul of the earth. The visual composition of the work is taken from the most prominent mountains in Saudi Arabia and their stories. Using stainless steel and taking advantage of one of its applications, as a material that interacts with the refraction of light, the work evinces a mirage. Working in a space far away from the eye, the material interacts with the refraction of light and produces a mirage to create a radiant space.
