Object
Ink on archival paper
70 X 70 CM
Geometric Arabic calligraphy
ATHR, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Out of Place
2019
Written in 1994, Pale Blue Dot is one of the most important astronomy books by the late writer Carl Sagan. It is based Sagan’s encounter of an image of Earth taken by the American space shuttle Voyager 1 from 6 billion kilometers, showing our planet as a barely noticeable blue dot against the vastness of the stars. The book discusses the future of the sciences of the universe in connection to human sciences and a narrative that strives to withstand the race conflicts distinctive to human beings.
In this work Al Salem concentrates on the word Thing as it refers to everything we know and don’t know. Whenever the word Thing is constructed, it is as if we have shaped every-thing and so the artist uses the dot as the starting point to a word that would have been written and its placement on the page from an abstract and philosophical approach.
Nasser Al Salem_Pale Blue Dot_Object_2019_70 X 70 CM_ Ink on archival paper_Geometric Arabic calligraphy