Olafur Eliasson has completed a site-specific piece of public artwork in a northern-Qatari desert. Titled Shadows travelling on the sea of the day, the Icelandic-Danish artist’s work is inspired by the “interplay of human perception and the natural world.”

Eliasson’s piece comprises twenty mirrored circular shelters along with three single rings and two double rings. The rings are positioned according to the axes of a fivefold symmetrical pattern, while at the center, ten of the piece’s shelters are connected and arranged to form a five-pointed star.

Beneath the shelters, the ceilings are mirrored to reflect the earth. “Looking up, you come to realise that you are, in fact, looking down: at the earth and at yourself,” Eliasson explained. “Above and below, sand envelops you, together with anyone else sharing the space. To test what you see, you might extend an arm and wave to yourself or wiggle a foot while looking at your reflection. It is a kind of realty check of your connectedness to the ground.”

Eliasson’s piece was commissioned ten years ago and took almost four years to produce. “In the past decade, mainstream awareness of the need for climate action, and my own awareness of it, have developed significantly,” Eliasson continued. “Shadows travelling on the sea of the day invites reflection on how we can rebuild relationships with the planet; how we can create new narratives for transitioning to different ways of being on and caring for the Earth.”

Eliasson’s piece is one of more than 100 works of art populating public spaces across Qatar. Coordinated by Qatar Museums, the series was commissioned to celebrate Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is expected to host 1.5 million visitors.

The country’s hosting of the major sporting event has caused controversy on human rights grounds, with Amnesty International recently urging FIFA to reserve at least $440 million to “compensate migrant workers who it says have suffered labor abuses” in preparations for the event.

Other works by Eliasson recently featured in our editorial include a colorful glass canopy in California Wine Country and a collaborative art installation in David Chipperfield’s Morland Mixite Capitale in Paris.