Aldwa Alsael, 2024
25W x 25L x 50D
water, light, steel tower

Aldwa Alsael, which translates to “liquid light”, was commissioned by The Noor Riyadh Light Art Festival. This artwork is a series of three lighthouses along the shores of Wafi Hanifah, a public park in a valley containing a seasonal river. Each evening, these towers cast beams into the water, creating geometric light sculptures. When viewed along the banks, the beams converge into parallel lines, transforming into solid pillars of light stretching skyward. This optical phenomenon, anamorphosis, presents light not as illumination, but as an object in its own right.

When light takes on material permanence, it redefines the boundaries between the tangible and intangible. It hints at a future where form might not rely on physical mass but instead on energy and perception, creating spaces that are dynamic, ephemeral, and yet profoundly real.

The following photographs were taken with an old Rolleiflex film camera during our installation of ‘Aldwa Alsael’ in Saudi Arabia. Photographing on film feels like an appropriate medium for capturing the physical qualities of light.

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Seism