How can cross-cultural heritage demonstrate circularity?
200 x 200 x 50 cm (for the glass mesh), with adjustable ceiling drop of 800 cm.
Constellations 2.0 Object. Light. Consciousness. (2023)
A suspended light sculpture of thousands of Murano glass tiles, handwoven in Venice into a structural mesh guided by Bedouin weaving traditions.
In development for over a decade, Constellations 2.0. Object. Light. Consciousness. draws from the intangible heritage of Italy and the Arab homeland, once deeply connected. During antiquity much of the Arab region, including what is now known as Jordan, was part of the Roman Empire. Cities like Jerash and Petra showcase the rich cultural intersections between Roman influences and local traditions, visible in the evolution of architecture and artisanal techniques. Just as Bedouin communities across the Arab world preserved indigenous heritage through various forms of weaving such as ‘Khoos’ from palm leaves, Venice—particularly the island of Murano—became the center for luxury glass making in Italy. Glass is magical, mysterious, capable of being heavy or light, sturdy or fragile, opaque or translucent, colorful or colorless, refracting or reflecting. It is one of the oldest and most versatile materials ever created. Likewise, the art of weaving in Bedouin communities, including Khoos, evolved through centuries of intergenerational knowledge, adapting to different needs and environments.
Conceptualized in Amman and produced off the coast of Venice, the “handwoven glass” of Constellations 2.0 seeks to revive the dialogue between the cultural heritages of Murano glass and Bedouin weaving. The seeds for this project were sown with Constellations 1.0 (2014), which emerged from material experimentation and a mesh system inspired by ancient body armor. Initially made from locally available plexiglas, the transition to glass in the second iteration felt a natural progression. The inherent fragility of glass contrasts with the strength of the torus form created by the mesh. Paralleling the survival and persistence of cultural traditions, Constellations 2.0 demonstrates how fragility and strength work together to transform through flexibility. This balance reveals untapped possibilities, creating a piece that embodies both continuity and change.
How can material dematerialize into light?
Driven by research into light, movement, and the convergence of traditions, Constellations 2.0 is designed as a human body. This cross-cultural suspended light sculpture features an internal bone structure composed of a tubular column and spoke wheels in polished stainless steel. The reflective quality of these components conceals the framework and amplifies the light sources. Its outer skin consists of 5,632 glass “scales” cut from Murano sheets, making the piece glisten like armor. From off to on, the chandelier completely changes: at first a textured, snake-like skin surface, it becomes a luminous jewel.
When illuminated, the glass mesh filters light and shadow, casting patterns and textures onto the walls and floor, creating an intangible yet pivotal spatial experience. Light, often carrying divine meaning, shapes the visible. These cosmological patterns are reminiscent of the starry night sky in Jordan’s Badia (desert). This effect was achieved through extensive experimentation in Italy, where we adjusted the tension and compression on the structural mesh to accommodate the fragility of the glass. Through this delicate process, a torus shape emerged: recurring in nature, inherently cyclical like the dimension of time, and a proposed shape of the universe. The circle is at the core of Constellations 2.0, symbolic of the divine throughout the ages and across civilizations. This interplay of spiritual and structural forces ties the glass pieces together into equilibrium, weaving fading traditions and interactions, so that they may resonate to find new meaning in our current and future contexts.
