six n. five lands in abu dhabi with glimmering desert installation ‘skyward’

skyward: A MONOLITH SET AGAINST THE DESERT

Skyward by Ezequiel Pini, the artist and designer behind Six N. Five, glimmers within the landscape of Manar Abu Dhabi 2025 as a composed encounter between material density and reflected atmosphere. The public artwork begins with a single gabbro stone extracted from the UAE town of Ras al Khaimah, positioned so its dark surface absorbs the desert sun while revealing fine variations in texture. Its presence feels anchored to geological time as it was first shaped by natural forces and then by weeks of hand refinement.

Across from the stone, a illuminated mirrored plane of digital art introduces an entirely different register. The surface gathers the sky and returns it to the ground, creating a shifting field that responds to weather, hour, and the quiet movement of visitors. This pairing forms the basic spatial rhythm of Skyward, one element rooted in the earth, the other oriented toward the open expanse overhead.

Ezequiel Pini (a.k.a. Six N. Five), Skyward, 2025. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025. image courtesy Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi & Public Art Abu Dhabi. photo by Lance Gerber

six n. five sculpts with stone and shimmering light

Six N. Five‘s placement of the monolith and mirror frames a passage that draws visitors to Skyward through a measured sequence. The gap between them serves as a calibrated threshold, where the mass of gabbro stone meets the immaterial clarity of reflected light. Ezequiel Pini’s work often dwells on elemental contrasts, and here the installation translates those interests into a built environment.

Digital projections shimmer across the mirrored surface, guided by constellations associated with Abu Dhabi. These animated sequences bring a sense of quiet movement to the installation, echoing traditions of navigation shaped by star patterns across desert and sea. The effect remains grounded in architectural experience: visitors read the surface at scale, observing how light behaves across its height and how the projection alters their perception of depth.

Ezequiel Pini (a.k.a. Six N. Five), Skyward, 2025. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025. image courtesy Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi & Public Art Abu Dhabi. photo by Lance Gerber

engaging abu dhabi’s desert landscape

As the sun shifts, Six N. Five’s Skyward mirror serves as an inclined horizon, folding portions of sky into the visitor’s field of view. This creates a subtle reorientation, encouraging upward attention while still maintaining a strong relationship with the ground plane. The installation’s alignment within the desert setting amplifies this effect, giving Skyward a steady presence amid open terrain.

The stone’s handcrafted finish invites close viewing. Faint tool marks remain at certain edges, offering evidence of the labor involved and underscoring the contrast between permanence and adaptation. In relation to the mirror, the stone’s matte density stabilizes the composition, heightening awareness of the changes taking place across the reflective surface.

Ezequiel Pini (a.k.a. Six N. Five), Skyward, 2025. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025. image courtesy Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi & Public Art Abu Dhabi. photo by Lance Gerber

project info:

name: Skyward

artist: Ezequiel Pini (Six N Five) | @sixnfive

location: Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE

client: Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Public Art Abu Dhabi

completion: 2025

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