Monday, September 16, 2013

The Mysterious Cones of the Egyptian Desert


These strange cones and holes look like a bizarre wind formation in the Egyptian desert, until you see the pattern they make from the air.
Created by Greek artist Danae Stratou and the DAST art team in the mid-1990s, this earthwork art is called "Desert Breath." It covers 100,000 square meters in the Egyptian desert near the Red Sea, and took several years to create. At its center was a fairly deep pool of water, and the whole project was designed to slowly erode over time. Which is exactly what's happened
This is a view of the project via a satellite photo taken shortly after it was created.

And this is what it looks like today. It is eroding beautifully.
For more information, and more photos, check out Stratou's gallery.


Originally posted on: io9

63 comments:

  1. Maybe they're on ley lines?

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    1. exactly, just like stonehenge and the giza pyramids.

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    2. It's an art project. Try reading around the pictures.

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  2. ..........For more information, and more photos, check out Stratou's gallery.

    ^Dead link...just sayin'

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    1. http://www.danaestratou.com/

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    2. it eroded away.......js.

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    3. Beautiful idea and beautiful result

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    4. lol at "it eroded away"

      Too bad the link is dead.

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    5. the golden ratio 1.618 creates all life also in this pic

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  3. the right link:
    http://www.danaestratou.com/projects/exterior/desert-breath

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  4. What a waste of time and money for this so called "art"

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    1. Art can be many different things, it's all a matter of personal creativity. Get your head out of your ass you uncultured swine.

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    2. MY Name is also FlagmoT'ism and I agree with you so called Anonymous .. Not the Swine thing, but the ART thing :o)

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    3. Anon at 4:31, well said...always some moronic troll lurking about with nothing more than semblance of intelligence at the helm...
      This work is amazing and I, for one, am grateful I have seen it.

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    4. No defiantly got to agree with the original post what a total waste of time. I'm sick of seeing millions spent on so called art whilst we have starving people animals being killed just for sport fur and ivory. Rain forests being cut down left right and centre. So I have one question what good is your fantastic art when the world around it is being torn apart by greed arrogance selfishness just for enjoyment by one species. We should be focusing on getting the tyrants out and working together to repair this beautiful planet as that is where the real art is its called life.

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    5. and what is the sense of this art? Put effort on something useful, or at least meaningful, not on any "moronic" idea

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    6. fortunately, whether you agree or dont agree doesnt matter. you all had nothing to do with the end result and have no place to say one way or the other. I am partial to the artistic nature of this work and have the intelligence to see its true mathematical and aesthetic beauty. It is never a waste of time to exercise the mind by thinking, creating, and working about puzzles/problems in your head. I recommend you all start doing the same thing and maybe you'll gain a better perspective on life. Or you can continue being douchers, not advancing your mind and fixing the genetic misfortunes that your parent figures passed on. Your future offspring are doomed to same fate as you if you dont start focusing more on your mind and observing your surroundings as they are instead of wasting time on nonsensical arguments.

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    7. The most interesting thing about this Art Piece, is that in a future far away, it could be considered to be alien, just like so many of the ancient Art pieces we see today, most of them is man made, and with s solid spiritual reason behind it,. This is nothing more but a mathcal piece of art, personally I love it, it's beautiful, but the pattern it self, isn't new, but the idea is..

      I don't care if others find it a waste of time, I too, can find design and ARt waste of time and money, so bless you, your taste is just different then mine :o)

      Love'N'Hugs
      FlagmoT'ism

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    8. "real art is its called life."

      Funny because Life IS "millions spent on so called art whilst we have starving people animals being killed just for sport fur and ivory. Rain forests being cut down left right and centre"

      That is a FACT of life as we know it.... A piece of Art being made is not going to change that and because of the diversity and various cultural upraising you nor one or a group of people can change that. People have and always will starve, be in poverty, have forest cut down for "Life" as it evolves... I think you are not seeing the big picture and seem to want to bash someone for having the time, resources, and ability to create such an interesting piece of art. Life has always been survival of the fittest, weather that is through money, politics, physical ability, intelligence, etc... Either wake up and accept what the reality is and do something to try to persuade the entire world to see things as you do besides bashing a piece of art that resulted in some pretty neat pictures... is he killing animals, destroying rain forest, forcing starvation, destroying the planet?? Also, as much as you say "lets restore this planet" you must have no concept of its own natural cycles... like Ice Ages, Meteor impacts that wipe out entire species, natural climate change and warming (due to many reasons other than people surviving on the planet with current technologies and transportation, etc).... I feel you seriously need to wake up

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    9. blah blah blah you suck. you are a waste of time and money

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    10. Uncultured swine? WTF CULTURE IS THIS FROM? stupid stupid.

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    11. Agreed... calling others "uncultured swine" is very cultured indeed!
      *** sarcasm mode on ***

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    12. in a world of greed and starvation art is the only form of rebellion, the people who think art is a waste of money are the ones greedily counting every penny they have while they blame the happy for spending on what life is really about, like you really help the poor anyways. if you want to talk about wasting money, think big business and corruption not beauty because we would all be robots without it, i mean if thats the life you want to live then just kill yourself now because youre never going to inflict a positive change on the world

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    13. How do you know he didn't spend his own money? Why just assume for some crazy reason that you somehow paid for it? This is art and art is needed in a world full of desolation and war and hate. It gives hope and even if for just a moment shows real beauty to many people. If you don't like it that's fine but why feel the need to hate on the artist?

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  5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DKn03uiC6E

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    1. Being an artist I can appreciate the beauty of the idea. Being an artist I am aware of the games that high society plays wasting money on creating lovely curves in the desert while children starve.

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  6. He who focuses only on money and does not appreciate art is truly a shallow and empty soul.

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  7. If they do exist, they should appear in Google Maps or in Wikimapia.
    Can you please put the direct link for their maps here or at least the coordinates, so that we can search them?
    Thanks

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  8. I'm the one who asked about a map about.
    there is no need for it.
    It a human-made art project made in 1995 and took 9 months to complete.

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  9. The creativity of man knows no bounds!!! Amazing!!

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  10. Now we know who created the crop circles.

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  11. Very nice indeed, shame we can't spend more time doing this instead of killing each other!

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  12. man made...so don't make it look like it's from some where else...stop wasting our time with fiction

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Some retard didn't read the article...

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    3. who the hell said it looks like its from another planet? Read the article and gain a frame of reference before throwing your uninformed/misinformed thoughts into the intellectual ring

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    4. its is not claimed or made to look like its is from somewhere else... you are clearly just another idiot who spews out crap assumptions before you even consider reading or educating yourself. besides... could you please show me an example of an alien structure that you wish to compare this to that makes it look like its "from somewhere else" ? lmao

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  13. cool. love the idea and that it is constantly changing. very nicely done.

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  14. https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=27%C2%B022%2754.59%22N,+33%C2%B037%2748.46%22E

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  15. It looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt4jzVUEJjo

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  16. First off, most forms of furthering the mind are extremely beneficial to our evolutionary trajectory. Artwork of any kind is the ultimate expression of understanding and imagination. Expanding and exercising your mind is just as important, if not more important, than exercising your body. Doing math problems, imagining a unique situation without every being exposed to it, constructing ideas, widdling a stick, carving stone, smoothing sand dunes, etc, etc. These are all mental exercise routines (just like the a gym routine for your body). Every decision, thought, feeling, emotion, behavior, etc, etc, impacts your genetic make-up. The well-being and future of your future bloodline depends upon the individuals who encompass it. Mutation is a natural event in evolution, but genetic deformity, mental disorder, and biological disease are results of our piss-poor decisions as individuals and as a group. Naturally, most of the world is ignorant and lacks the necessary education to survive without the tit of a government. Righteous delusion is the favored state of mind now days, and that is unfortunate. The fact of the matter is that you all day you could argue that we are wasting time with one thing and not focusing on the other (which would be true) but very few people actually follow through with what they argue for. Do something about it. Go help the homeless. Start a shelter. Help the rest of the animal kingdom from being demolished by our foolish ways. Do something useful with your lives! Quit complaining, get off your asses, and contribute towards a better future instead of sitting behind a computer and bitching. This behavior is the known as passive acceptance. We talk about these issues but most dont do shit about it and turn a blind eye when called to action in the real world. Fortunately, humans aren't a lost cause yet. We need to cut the crust of this shit sandwich called civilization and get back in harmony with the ecosystem. A sustainable future will be the result.

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    1. " We need to cut the crust of this shit sandwich called civilization and get back in harmony with the ecosystem. A sustainable future will be the result. "

      HaHaHaHa... agreed.

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  17. In the eye of the beholder it is ,but rather intriguing.

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  18. The Desert Breath, located in the Egyptian desert near Hurghada on the Red Sea coast, is a double-spiral extra-large piece of art.[1]

    It was created by a group of three artists - Danae Stratou, Sculptor, Alexandra Stratou, Industrial Designer, and Stella Constantinides, architect. The work, completed on March 7, 1997, covers an area of about 360 metres by 300 metres and consists of 89 protruding cones, of gradually increasing size, set in a spiral and another 89 depressed (incised) cones set in a second spirals. At the centre of these two spirals is a pair of two large cones with protruding cone fitting inside the incised one. When filled with water, it gives an impression of a micro island in a small circular lake. The sand dug out from the depressed cones was used to create the protruding cones. The artwork is subject to natural erosion and in due course the area will revert to original desert plain.

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    1. It was finished two days before the death of Notorious B.I.G.

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  19. This is amazing, the patience, math and time spent on this turned out to be something impressive.

    For those who say that art has no purpose I'd like to point out that chair, table, couch, T.V and everything else you have ever used was invented by something called art, a scribble, an idea. Those movies you watch and waste money on instead of helping the rainforest or a starving child? also made by a thing considered art.

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  20. I like them ! certainly adds a bit of character to a otherwise boring land scape!

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  21. http://www.janosh.com/en/

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  22. Very nice but they actually got paid to do this???? and it benefits Who? And who has seen this? total waste of time and money.

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  23. Ignorance is bliss, just read the comments for this art. You will shortly after realise there is No hope for humanity! Why can't one just appreciate something without having there own love trampled on by weak minds?

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  24. Most third world countries starving people actually pity us and the comments on here are why. We call them different things but believe it or not, they would actually appreciate this a heel of a lot more than a pop tart. They don't consider it "food". However this is food for thought. It's quite clear that many did not read the areas surrounding the pics before spewing at the mouth. Also most artists are more in tune with out mother earth and also more caring for her people. This art did not harm one single tree, used no man made materials so no money was actually spent. It also caused absolutely no harm to our earth what so ever. Get a grip people. It's easy to cut down another. Wanna be a bigger person. Do what's a little harder to accomplish. Help someone up!

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  25. Been on one post, jus one, luvd the bickering an am now leavin yer High an Mighty asses, for I fear my own IQ may drop reading anymore of yer tripe.
    MT

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  26. looks like someone was trying to show others that they understand the recipe for life...

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  27. This is just a cover-up. Don't be fooled! This was made by ALIENS trying to share a message to help us reach the 5th dimension!!! If you don't believe me, just ask Bashar and the GFL!!! :-)

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  28. sign of the pyramids

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  29. It is art. Its the Art of God. That symbol is a part of you. Its found all throughout nature. All throughout the universe. Its called Phi. Others know it as the Fibonacci code or the golden ratio. If you pay attention you see the sign in a lot of the things that you watch. Especially Disney movies and shows. Recently was watching Peter Pan with my daughter and saw it when captain hook gets knocked on the head. This symbol circles around his head instead of the common birds. Also in jake and the Neverland pirates when they change scenes Tink flies around in that same spiral. Even production studios like relativity media who produced the movie Fighting with Channing Tatum zoom out from a simple atom all the way to this massive spiral in space. It appears to be a massive cover up of knowledge. I never learned of this ratio 1.618 when in school yet it is apart of everything we do. Knowing this information proves the existence of the creator, and that were not here by chance. watch this video for proof. http://bit.ly/12nhJ6z

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