Waterfall sculptures, Dubai – September 2013
The first time I saw images of this water feature in the Dubai Mall, I did a double take. Had the cliff divers of Acapulco relocated to the Middle East? But while the Acapulco divers have been doing it for over 40 years, the Waterfall only opened in 2009 in the huge Dubai Mall. Designed by Singapore-based DPA Architects, the Waterfall comprises two cylindrical structures, each running the full 4-storey height of the mall, and each topped by a reservoir feeding the recycled water cascading down the sides. So far, so good. But what makes the waterfall truly mesmerising is the addition of a number of life-sized art sculptures of human divers, ostensibly flinging themselves gracefully down the ever-cascading waterfall. It evokes a childlike sense of awe and delight – and isn’t that what all good public artwork should aim for?
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What an amazing sculpture! and a great photo too. You should add it to Douglas’ Dummy Society page on facebook!
Hahahaha – indeed!
I absolutely LOVE this!! What gloriously free imagery. 🙂
I know – it makes you feel free just looking at it! Deliciously art deco styling too.
I love public artworks, they lighten up our lives. This photo of the diver is fabulous, so free, so graceful. It is ironic that you’ve posted it on a day when the media have been reporting – yet again – the theft of a sculpture by Henry Moore. Taken from the Glenkiln Sculpture Park in Scotland, I hope it has not been sold to some dodgy scrap metal dealer who has had it melted down. The metal value of these artworks is a mere fraction of their artistic value, and their theft is not just theft, it is cultural vandalism…oh dear, I’m getting so hot under the collar I’m about to bring back hanging and flogging.
Oh Jo, I feel your pain. The worst is that I do believe it probably has been taken to a dodgy scrap yard to be sold for the price of the metal 🙁 I speak as the repeated victim of lead flashing theft. These little toe-rags steal like 1 metre of lead flashing off my roof that probably gets them like £5 – and I have to spend £250 replacing it with a non-lead alternative in the hope that the next lot of morons can tell it isn’t lead before ripping it off my house!!
Public art makes the world go round. My other favourite is Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in Chicago. It’s the only public artwork I have ever been tempted to steal 😉
Oh, I love that sculpture!
Cheers,
Rosa
I could have taken a thousand photos of it! Mesmerising.