Rooted in the context of art history from the twentieth century onwards, such as minimalism and conceptual art, Shaikha Al Mazrou has produced art with a focus on the physical properties of materials and their latent meanings. Her work, which references color theory and geometric abstraction, has consistently explored the relationship between form and material.
This work was inspired by the poem Un Coup de Dés Jamais N’Abolira le Hasard (A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance) by prominent modern French poet Stéphane Mallarmé. Based on the theme of the coexistence of coincidence and inevitability, this poem has been acclaimed for creating a multilayered poetic space, both visually and temporally, through its skillful placement of words and blank space.
A fountain that once provided a place of respite for visitors used to exist where this work is installed, but it eventually ran dry. The current state of affairs could be said to be the result of countless accumulations of events, some coincindental and some inevitable. Focusing on the absence of the water, Al Mazrou represented the water, which would normally be dynamic and continually changing, by replacing it with the solid, static material of marble. Two ripples have been carved into the laid marble. While possessing an orderly structure, they interfere with each other, causing ripples on the surface, indicating the passage of time and signs of past events. These two ripples also suggest both the presence of something thrown onto the water’s surface, as well as its absence. With this work, Al Mazrou is attempting to visualize the moment in which the opposing concepts of coincidence and inevitability and presence and absence blend together.