Frozen crystal beauty in the Dead Sea

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A ballerina's tutu, submerged in the Dead Sea and "frozen" by accumulated layers of salt into a 200 kg (440 lb) crystal-like sculpture, will soon go on international display, part of a unique artistic project at the lowest point on the planet.

Israeli artist Sigalit Landau, 49, has used the high salinity that makes aquatic life in the Dead Sea impossible to create a collection of shiny white sculptures that seem to come out of a fairy tale.

One of Israeli artist Sigalit Landau's pieces, a ballerina's tutu covered in salt crystal formations, is seen submerged in the hypersaline waters of the Dead Sea, Israel, August 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

They include a ballet dancer's costume and shoes as well as musical instruments.

Landau and her team secure their submerged objects with metal frames, weights, and strong cords. She said she selects them based "mainly (on) memories and materials which I'm attracted to, but also that the sea really likes."

Israeli artist Sigalit Landau (L) and her partner Yotam, look at some of her art pieces, objects covered in salt crystal formations ‍at Landau's studio in Kibbutz Almog, Israel, August 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

The artist, who has visited the Dead Sea regularly since childhood, said she embarked on the project after noticing the crystal formations along its shores that "happen spontaneously."

Landau has been creating the sculptures for the past 15 years at the Dead Sea, a site that has been popular for millennia among health seekers and tourists who come to float in its mineral-rich waters.

A general view shows salt formations in the Dead Sea, Israel, August 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

Wearing straw hats and long sleeve tops to protect them from the sun and temperatures that can reach 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees F), Landau and her team examine each item. Some, she said, crystallize quickly while others take more time, depending on the heat.

The Jerusalem-born artist and her team regularly document the process before and after the items are extracted, either by hand or by crane, and brought to a nearby hangar where a collection of sculptures is preserved.

Israeli artist Sigalit Landau looks up at her artwork, a ballerina's tutu covered in salt crystal formations as it is removed from the hypersaline waters of the southern Dead Sea, Israel, August 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

Her new works will go on display in the Museum Der Moderne Rupertinum in the Austrian city of Salzburg next year as part of a project entitled "Salt Years."

Landau is publishing a book about her project next year.

(Cover photo: Israeli artist Sigalit Landau holds onto a metal frame containing her artwork, a ballerina's tutu covered in salt crystal formations, as it is removed from the hypersaline waters of the southern Dead Sea, Israel, August 30, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters