60 x 60 x 255 cm ( 24” x 24” x 100”)
Limestone

The origin of this sculpture lies within an image of a single standing column from the ruins of Pasargade, the palace of King Cyrus, in Iran. Its aged surface still bears the inscription in Old Persian: “I am Cyrus, the King, an Achaemenid.” 2500 years after it was engraved, it is a proclamation both profound and ironic.

While I’ve never been to the country of my father’s birth, I’ve always been fascinated with its history and ruins. Just as ancient peoples created monuments which commemorate their story and spiritual beliefs, I created this tribute to my own. It is both a pillar uniting Heaven and Earth, and a means of spiritual transmission between myself and my ancestors whose spirits linger in the region. The monument bears hundreds of horizontal marks, each a wordless prayer offered to them . As I shaped and carved each of these limestone blocks, I often thought of Omar Khayyam’s poem on impermanence:

“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon Turns Ashes--or it prospers; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face Lighting a little Hour or two--is gone.”

In the midst of Dubai’s hypermodern architecture devoted to commerce and progress, it is crucial we reach back into the past and honor the people who walked this earth long before us, realizing that all civilizations eventually crumble. It provokes the question: in 2500 years, what will remain of our modern city, and of all we know and hold dear?

Photos by Heleriin Hein, courtesy of The Third Line, Dubai