At Manar Abu Dhabi 2025, digital artist and designer Ezequiel Pini, known as Six N. Five, presents Skyward, an immersive installation created with Plan X Gallery. Set within the vast stillness of the desert, the work blends sculpture, technology, and natural landscape into a single reflective experience. Featuring a monumental inclined mirrored plane and a hand-carved Gabbro stone sourced near Dubai, Skyward explores themes of ascension, perception, time, and the relationship between the earthly and the celestial.
The installation invites visitors to step into a shifting horizon where light, sky, and the human form converge.
A Horizon That Moves with the Sky
Courtesy of Six N. Five and Manar Abu Dhabi.
Courtesy of Six N. Five and Manar Abu Dhabi.
At the heart of Skyward is a vast, inclined mirrored plane that acts as an artificial horizon, capturing the desert’s shifting light and the silhouettes of visitors who approach. Rather than offering a static reflection, the surface becomes a dynamic visual organism—absorbing every movement of sand, every passing cloud, and every change in color across the sky.
Throughout the day, the installation transforms:
At dawn, soft desert light glides across the surface.
At sunset, the plane ignites with golden hues.
At night, constellations drift across it, turning the piece into a live map of the cosmos.
The result is a sculpture that exists not as an object, but as an event—continuous, changing, alive.
Where Ancient Stone Meets Digital Precision
A Gabbro Stone Anchors the Work to the Earth
At the center of Skyward rests a hand-carved Gabbro stone, formed millions of years ago through volcanic processes. Sourced from the UAE and shaped manually, it carries the weight of geological time and human touch.
The stone suggests gravity, endurance, and origin—balancing the mirrored plane’s ethereal quality with a grounded physical presence.
Two Poles in Dialogue
Together, the stone and the mirror create a duality:
Earth + Sky
Weight + Light
Permanence + Impermanence
Material + Illusion
This tension is where Skyward finds its meaning: in the delicate balance between what can be touched and what can only be perceived.
A Space for Reflection—Literal and Spiritual
The Viewer Becomes Part of the Work
As visitors approach, their bodies appear on the mirrored plane, suspended between sky and sand. This moment—fleeting and disorienting—reveals the installation’s deeper intention:
to see oneself within the infinite.
Technology as Contemplation, Not Spectacle
While Six N. Five is widely recognized for digital innovation, Skyward repositions technology as a subtle, contemplative tool. The work whispers rather than overwhelms, using precision engineering to create stillness, silence, and introspection.
A Landmark Installation at Manar Abu Dhabi
Situated within Manar Abu Dhabi, a platform known for ambitious public art, Skyward resonates as both a sculptural landmark and a philosophical gesture. It honors the region’s landscape while expanding the dialogue between digital culture and natural environment.
“Skyward resonates as both a sculptural landmark and a philosophical gesture,”
At a time defined by speed, data, and constant image-making, Skyward offers visitors a rare experience of pause, presence, and cosmic perspective.
More on Manar Abu Dhabi
DRIFT, “Unfold,” 2025. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025. Image courtesy of Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi & Public Art Abu Dhabi.
The inaugural edition of Manar Abu Dhabi was held under the theme Grounding Light, co-curated by Reem Fadda, Director of Abu Dhabi Culture Programming and Cultural Foundation, and Artistic Director of Public Art Abu Dhabi, and Alia Zaal Lootah. Offering an immersive, multi-sensory experience that celebrated the emirate’s natural beauty, the exhibition invited audiences to see Abu Dhabi’s coastal areas in a new light. Artworks were displayed across key locations in Abu Dhabi, including Lulu, Saadiyat, Jubail, Al Samaliyah, and Fahid islands, as well as coastal areas such as Corniche Road and the Eastern Mangroves. Over 35 site-specific artworks by local and international artists were commissioned for Manar Abu Dhabi, spanning a diverse range of mediums including light projections, sculptures, installations, and performances. – Manar Abu Dhabi
DRIFT, “Whispers,” 2025. Manar Abu Dhabi 2025. Image courtesy of Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi & Public Art Abu Dhabi.
