In 1997, D.A.S.T. Arteam created Desert Breath, a one million square foot art installation in a desert near the Red sea in Egypt. This was a collaboration between Danae Stratou, Alexandra Stratou(industrial designer), and Stella Constantinides(architect) to create a spiral made up of conical dips and protrusions in the Sahara Desert.
The installation is still visible from the sky but is slowly deteriorating. A small body of water once acted as a center point has evaporated. Some mounds have flattened and cracks can be seen throughout the surface, for the team the impending demise was oddly enough the whole point of the installation. “Through its slow disintegration, its become an instrument to measure the passage of time” says Stratou she also stated she likes the piece more and more as time goes on.
The team spent nine months constructing the spiral with a local constructing crew who donated manpower and tools. In the early construction days it was almost cut short because the town of El Gouna near by had experienced the worst floods in 60 years. Five years after the site was completed they ran into more problems. The town wanted to create a road back cutting through Desert Breath but the team negotiated and the Government nicely pulled the road back a few meters. This is when she realized people are Desert Breaths worst enemy not nature.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/14/world/africa/alien-landing-site-desert/
I thought this was a very cool article and I like how it made us realize how much damage or change we as humans can cause or create towards nature. It also shows how determination and will to create something so amazing especially something of that size and the time it took to create. I was happy to see how well the Government accommodated the team in helping and I found it pretty amazing the man power that created the installation was volunteered. Overall I think this installation is a lot more than just an amazing work of art but a window showing you that you can create things larger than life as long as you have the determination and desire I feel its also it shows the test of time.