Artist: Corwin Bell
Year: 2007
Materials: Mixed media
Dimensions: 14′

About Rose Water Chandelier

This one-of-a-kind chandelier was commissioned by the Museum of Outdoor Arts in 2007 for its “Sacred Water” exhibition, which included performance elements. The exhibition travelled to Burning Man in 2007 where the chandelier was installed inside a large geodesic dome on the playa of the Black Rock Desert. The project is archived in this documentary film that was made about the Burning Man installation and experience. The chandelier was permanently installed at the Englewood Civic Center in 2008, but returned to Burning Man again in 2016 for another installation by Corwin Bell.

Corwin Bell says, “In geometry, the number one is the origin of all numbers and signifies the supreme unknowable creator. Symbolizing unity, it is represented by the center circle at the heart of the Rose Water Chandelier. The remaining four petals are derived from the center circle using two ratios: the root of two and the root of five. Each symmetric half of a petal is composed of three circular sections with diameters equal to: root two times and root five times the diameter of the center circle. The root of the number two when multiplied with itself generates two—the male and female principle, the active and receiving force from which all other forms are generated. Unity, or the creative essence, creates the number two indirectly by creating its root first. In a similar way, the root of five is also derived from unity. The root of five when multiplied equals five, which signifies perfection in living beings. The root of five is used to create Phi, a ratio that defines the divine beauty in the human body and many other natural forms.”