Deniz Goes to Work

I would never imagine that I’d enjoy picking splinters from my hands that highly. It is rather a very satisfactory feeling to get my hands in pain, looking very ugly but happy. It has been two days since I started making objects in Dubai.

Jill was so lovely to arrange all the wood for me left from the skateboard ramp. These enabled me to start working at Tashkeel, right away without waiting for any purchases. On the first day, through the evening I received a beautiful present (a temporary one, but specially bought for me), a lovely little monster, a mitre saw that you see on the photo. I should name her really; will be a great company to me during 3 months. 

Salama was so excited to learn how to use the mitre saw. This meant so much to me, as it is not very common for girls to use heavy machinery to make sculptures in Dubai. She said, at school the tutors never encouraged her to use a circular saw,  saying that it is very dangerous. She said she always wanted to use it. I showed her how to safely work with it, and she now wants to make frames with it. How exciting!

In two full-on days, I finished the skeleton of the base and the middle section of the three of the towers. I was given maybe 100 of 2’X2’ white wood, all remaining from the ramp. This is heaven I thought, a wood heaven. Everything started to go really well and I undressed from my stress and anxiety as soon as I started working. Khalid was so nice to give me a lift on both of the days from our house in Bastakiya to Tashkeel, which is really very far away. I also had the honour of meeting Shaikha Latifa Al Maktoum , who is the founder and the director of Tashkeel; also an artist who has recently shown her work at the Venice Biennale, UAE pavilion. 

I spent my previous days, with looking for the appropriate materials I need for the inside mechanisms of the towers. I was very lucky to have found these two beauties, and I made a lovely lace dress to the coffee mixing machine, for the Istanbul tower.  I couldn’t write many posts this week as I had the sudden realisation of spending all my time on observing and surrendering myself to Dubai, rather than focusing on my work, so I’d like to apologise from my followers for this delay.