Materials & Technique: Wild raw clay, flint stones

1200cm

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This Altar was designed for the 2017 "Zorba Festival" celebrated at "Desert Ashram" in the south of Israel. The festival's theme was "The birth of the Phoenix". One of the festival's producers called me and asked to create a quiet haven outside the festivals’ realm, at the heart of the desert. A place where people can go, meditate, pray, connect and dream their own "birth of the Phoenix". The location that was designated for the altar was previously a display of "Music Instruments Graveyard". At the preparation days, as we were cleaning the ground, it had revealed to us dozens of screws, piano keys, cello strings, violin parts and wind instruments. The feeling was almost mystic, cleaning the space from a memory of music that never was. The building of the Altar was extremely challenging. Lasting seven days, the process started in the scorching desert sun, followed by a sudden first winter rain, developing into a storm that produced a magnificent desert flood. I am deeply grateful for this experience that has taught me a valuable lesson in devotion to creativity within the unknown, at the mercy of Mother Nature.