Epic Sahara Desert Art Installation Still Exists After 17 Years

21 April 2014

 - The word “epic” is thrown around a lot these days to describe art or other media that people like. If you want a good idea of what “epic” really looks like, however, you need to see Desert Breath, a truly epic art installation near the Red Sea in Egypt. 17 years after its completion, this mystical desert spiral is still clearly visible on Google Earth.

The work, by D.A.S.T. Arteam, is of truly epic proportions – between 1995 and 1997, 8,000 m³ of sand were displaced to create an art installation that occupies 100,000 m2 of desert between the Red Sea and a range of ancient volcanic mountains in Egypt’s Eastern Desert region. It consists of a massive spiral of cones and pits that spiral out of a central pool of water. As the walking viewer approaches the center, the gradually smaller cones will make the viewer will feel as though they’re growing larger.