Photo credit ©2023 Sharjah Culture Trust,  @sharjahculture and @moonlightmedia.me

The Power of One

The House of Wisdom

25th Islamic Arts Festival

Sharjah, UAE


Dec. 14, 2023- Jan. 23, 2024

Design

Jin Choi and Thomas Shine


Thanks to 

Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival High Committee

Sharjah Art Museum

Nahla Alawahdi

Special Thanks to 

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan

Volunteers in Fukuoka, Japan

Photo credit ©2023 Sharjah Culture Trust,  @sharjahculture and @moonlightmedia.me

Photo credit ©2023 Sharjah Culture Trust,  @sharjahculture and @moonlightmedia.me

Originally created with the volunteers in Fukuoka and funded and organised by Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan, the Power of One is comprised of simple geometric lace forms detached and suspended over the water fountain against majestic House of Wisdom.

 

Ritual is an act of transforming a habit into a ceremonial occasion, a contemplative order. Water has a ceremonial significance in many cultures and religions, purification of one’s essence, creating a reflection that manifests the reality, or rather, an ethereal levitation of the reality.


Generally, lace is small in scale, and often private, used as an symbols for a special celebration, milestones of life. Shown in a large scale in a public place, the lace creates a sense of surprise which contributes to our collective memory.

The lace is hand made with the volunteers, which makes the process of making art as important and meaningful as its completion. The lace symbolically weaves different people and cultures, while physically, the openings in the surface create patterns of light against dark, a juxtaposition of a permeable surface on different visual layers. 


The patterns, interpreted from cultural heritage and natural elements are incorporated into the lace, creating a depth of complexion from a simple repetition of mathematical geometry. The pattern, threaded in the air and reflected in the water, provokes one’s search for the comprehensible and leads to the meditative journey for the clarity. The porous lace membranes form the windows through which we re-discover the beauty within and around us.

Images © 2023 Choi+Shine Architects

Photo credit 

©2023 Sharjah Culture Trust,  @moonlightmedia.me

 © 2023 Choi+Shine Architects

The design and images of The Power of One are copyright 2019 - 2024 Choi+Shine Architects and may not be used without written permission.

The images and design  copyright 2016 - 2024   Choi+Shine Architects, LLC.  All rights reserved. 

The designs, artworks and images on this page are subject to copyright, patent and/or trademark protection.

Contact:  Choi+Shine Architects for written permission for image use.

Instagram @choishinearch