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Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023
Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023
Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater drawing observatory (Detail) - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023
Saltwater drawing observatory (Detail)
Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 (Detail) - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 (Detail)
Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023
Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023
Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023
Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 - Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023
Al Thakhira, Qatar – 2023
Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Installation view, The curious desert, Drawings from Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 and Solar-drawing observatory comprises - National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023 - Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Installation view, The curious desert, Drawings from Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 and Solar-drawing observatory comprises
National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023
Photo: Anders Sune Berg
Drawing from Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 comprises - National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023
Drawing from Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 comprises
National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023
Drawings from Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 comprises - National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023
Drawings from Saltwater-drawing observatory, 2023 comprises
National Museum of Qatar, Doha – 2023
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The device on view in this pavilion is a drawing machine, similar to experiments that Eliasson first began developing in the nineteen-nineties in collaboration with his father, Elias Hjörleifsson. Two circular canvases – one white and the other black – turn slowly on motors as water, mixed with black and white pigments respectively, drips down onto the spinning surfaces. The wind causes the drawing utensil to move across the surface of the turning page, leaving undulating marks as it does so. The drawings, portraits of the weather conditions at the location, are periodically removed and displayed, first inside the pavilion and later at the National Museum of Qatar.

Artwork details

Title

Saltwater-drawing observatory

Year

2023

Materials

Galvanized steel, textile (beige, anthracite), solar lamp, solar panel, batteries, stainless steel, aluminium, paint (anthracite), motor, plastic, wood, canvases (black, white), pigmented saltwater (white and black acrylic ink)