The ubiquitous car park. In a city where we all spend so much time in our cars and therefore, also in car parks, you have to give Dubai’s Design District a massive thumbs up for what they have done to their underground car park. They commissioned graphic artist Marwan Shakarchi, who is also known as myneandyours, to produce this giant mural to line 16 walls of the entrance to the parking area. It took him over a month to complete, putting in 740 man hours and covering 1840 square metres with 288 litres of paint.
The mural is titled The Greatest of Mysteries, which is part of a quote from an American astronomer called Carl Sagan who said: “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us -- there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
The artist said that this art piece, “in the most unlikely of places sent me past the vast emptiness of space and time, and deep into the unknown.”
It contains images of planetary structures, made of Shakarchi’s trademark cloud symbol, which he uses to instill a sense of optimism in his viewers. It also contains a central image of an astronaut with clouds filling his facemask as well as thousands of stars adorning the ceiling and walls. It is a mammoth art work that deserves to be seen in the flesh. Find it at the entrance to the car park of D3’s building 6, opposite to building 9.
Search for the artist on social media @myneandyours or check out his website www.myneandyours.com
aseaman@thenational.ae
