TOTEM XL

TOTEM XL IS A PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF THE DIGITAL IN A WORLD WHERE DIGITAL IMAGERY HAS EVOLVED INTO THE ICONS OF OUR NEW, COLLECTIVE SYSTEM OF BELIEF AND SPIRITUALITY. THE OMNIPRESENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE OF DIGITAL SPACE IS SUSTAINED BY THE UNEQUIVOCAL PRESENCE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR DAILY LIVES. THE PIXEL - THE SMALLEST UNIT OF A DIGITAL IMAGE - IS A DIGITAL ATOM THAT TOTEM REPRESENTS THREE-DIMENSIONALLY IN THE FORM OF THE PRISTINE WHITE CUBE.

TOTEM XL WAS INCLUDED IN THE 2023 “TALES UNDER THE GATE” ART INSTALLATION IN THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE (DIFC), WHERE SCULPTURES WERE DISPLAYED AT DIFC GATE STRUCTURE. THE TITLE OF THE INSTALLATION REFERS TO STORYTELLING AND THE WAY THAT STORIES ARE PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. THIS INSTALLATION MARKS MICHEL ABBOUD’S FIRST PUBLIC ART EXHIBITION IN DUBAI, FOLLOWING HIS WORK ON TWO OF THE CITY’S MOST PROMINENT ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS: AVA AND ONE AT PALM.

THE PIECE IS MEANT TO SYMBOLIZE THE CONVERGENCE OF CULTURES AND THE BLENDING OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN ELEMENTS IN THE CITY OF DUBAI. ITS GEOMETRY RECALLS INDIGENOUS CEREMONIES THROUGH THE VERY ACT OF GATHERING AROUND AN ICON OF BELIEF WHILE PROMPTING AUDIENCES TO CONSIDER HOW OUR RELIGIOUS DEDICATION TO TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO SHAPE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OURSELVES AND ONE ANOTHER.