I placed this cache on the eve of the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition. This is one of the newest and largest desert art installations in the country, inaugurated on 24 October 2022. The steel and fiberglas discs are mirrored to reflect whatever is underneath.
Remember if you take something to please leave equivalent swag for those who follow in your footsteps because that is part of the fun! And If you like this cache please consider giving it a favorite point to encourage me to place more caches!
Here is Olafur Eliasson's (the artist's) statement:
س ف ر ال ظلال ف ي ب رح انلھ ار
(Shadows travelling on the sea of the day), 2022
Shadows travelling on the sea of the day is reached by driving through the rugged
desert landscape, northwards from Doha, past Fort Zubarah and the village of Ain
Mohammed. You may already glimpse the artwork from afar, situated on the horizon
like a small informal settlement or industrial site. When you finally approach the
artwork on foot, the uncertainty of what you are in fact seeing may stay with you a
little while longer. The landscape – a vast, sandy plane dotted with desert plants,
traces of animals, and rock formations – extends around you for many kilometres in
all directions. Perhaps the shimmering line of the horizon is the artwork’s outer limit.
Yet it is not only you who have journeyed to meet up with the artwork. Its cool,
hospitable shadows travel slowly across the sandy ground during the day and more
rapidly at dusk and dawn. Above you, in the ceilings fitted with large mirrors, you
may also – with the right amount of patience – detect these cyclical journeys.
Looking up, you come to realise that you are, in fact, looking down – at the earth
and at yourself. Above and below, sand envelops you, together with anyone else
sharing the space. To test what you see, you might extend an arm and wave to
yourself or wiggle a foot while looking at your reflection. It is a kind of reality check
of your connectedness to the ground. You are at once standing firmly on the sand
and hanging, head down, from a ground that is far above you. You will probably
switch back and forth between a first-person perspective and a destabilising, thirdperson
point of view of yourself. This oscillation of the gaze, together with the
movement of your body, amplifies your sense of presence, while the curving
structures seem to vanish into the surroundings, dematerialising and becoming
landscape.
If you look at the clusters of sculptural elements unfolding left and right, you may
notice a quite extraordinary effect: the array of mirrors connects and perfects what is
physically distinct and partial. The mirrors each reflect their own semicircular
support, completing them into perfect circles. The neighbouring mirrors reflect the
steel structures as well, creating a sea of interconnections. Reflection becomes
virtual composition, changing as you move. What you perceive – an entanglement
of landscape, sprawling sculptural elements, and visitors – seems hyperreal while still
completely grounded.
I hope you will become sensitised to the surroundings as you meander beneath the
shady mirrors. Walking slowly – without the protection of a fast-moving,
airconditioned vehicle – you may be able to take in a landscape that is not barren
and empty but comprises desert animals, plants, and human beings; stories,
traditions, and cultural artefacts; wind, glaring sunlight, thick air, and shimmering
heat; semicircles and rings; traces and tracks; and curiosity, fatigue, and wonder.
Shadows travelling on the sea of the day is a celebration of all that is here; of
everything moving through the space at the time of your visit, of your presence
within this naturalcultural landscape. It is an invitation to resync with the planet.
A feature of the site that is not currently publicized is the petroglyphs that can be found on a smallish rock hill. Instead of walking directly toward the sculptures, bear left to a little hillock. First you will see some little "caves" but walk up onto the hill and you can find the petroglyphs that look like they might have been mancala game boards.
The cache is hidden among the many, many stones that surround the parking lot. I built a small cairn (rock pile) and put a white stone on the top to help you locate the cache. Please if you find it, try to make sure the cairn looks more or less like the photo because there are a LOT of rocks here!
As this cache is placed, there are absolutely no facilities, however, you can visit Ain Mohammed, which is basically across the street. It is quite a large compound with camels, tents, a restaurant and toilets. And it has its own interesting granite sculptures to visit!
FTF: jeffm9242