Water Thief, 2010
Polymer gypsum, fibreglass, steel, polystyrene, plaster, wood, and paint
ΕΜΣΤ Collection
Presented as part of the D.Daskalopoulos Collection Gift
Water Thief is a monumental sculpture based on a renowned water clock that was invented and constructed in 1206 by the distinguished engineer Al-Jazari, who lived in northeastern Syria. Water clocks are among the earliest instruments for measuring time and were used in antiquity to track its passage through the flow of water. They were known as “water thieves” (from the Greek word clepsydra), a term the artist also adopts for the title of her work. Al-Hadid’s sculpture evokes the inner workings of a water clock, with its channels, reservoirs, siphons, drains, gears, and all its mechanical components. At the same time, however, it resembles a ruin; it stands as a dystopian reminder of collapse, where the element of water flowing through the fragments of this ancient machine inevitably recalls its negative counterpart: the nightmarish possibility of its scarcity or, indeed, its complete absence. The work thus acquires particular resonance in the present context, given that the Mediterranean landscape often suffers from water scarcity or is entirely arid.
Diana Al-Hadid’s works often emulate the grandeur and lofty aesthetic of ancient ruins, while also appearing precarious and on the verge of collapse. This illusion of instability contrasts with their seemingly solid structure. Al-Hadid creates elaborate sculptural installations that explore both historical and contemporary ideas surrounding architecture, science, space, and time. Her visual language draws on ancient Eastern and Western mythologies and narratives, Gothic architecture, Western painting, Arab traditions, Islamic culture, physics, and astronomy. Her work frequently alludes to Baroque architectural forms in a state of disintegration. The artist gives form to fantastical images rendered in an abstract manner, using materials such as steel, plaster, fibreglass, wood, foam, aluminium foil, and others, reflecting a fragile world in a state of realignment, where old and new forms and ideas are explored anew.
Diana Al-Hadid was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1981. She lives and works in New York.
