N A S S E R   A  L S  A  L  E  M




             
             The First Space Shuttle
                    Nature Series


Styrofoam, fabrics and PVC 500cm 
Styrofoam, Tend fabrics 
Hight x 300cm diameter 
Courtesy of the artist and Athr Gallery, Jeddah
Commissioned by the Saudi Art Council2019-2021 
The work of Nasser Alsalem establishes a direct link between the ancient world of the Bedouins and futuristic projections apropos the conquest of space. This sculpture combines the traditional know-how of the nomads who used tents as a habitat with the Crew Dragon design, or the SpaceX capsule whose first crewed flight took place in the spring of 2020. The artist acknowledges the proximity of these historically distant attitudes, as both call for a dynamic conception of space based on exploration.  

Born into a family of tent salesmen in Mecca, Alsalem reconnects to his childhood while extending his calligraphy practice. In his artwork, the sense of infinity plays out in God's language in a collection of Quranic manuscripts. Thus, he finds the purpose of the absolute characteristic of 7th-century Hijazi Arabic in another form. He refers to a technology inscribed in a millennium-old narrative that allows us to assume that — in the words of  William Shakespeare in King Lear —"it is the stars, the stars above us, govern our conditions." Suppose the avowed project of SpaceX  founder Elon Musk is the colonization of Mars. In that case, the work of Alsalem invites us, in an especially synthetic and strong image, not to abandon our planet. 







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