How a black dress turned into a salty sculpture at the bottom of the sea

How to turn an ordinary, unremarkable black dress into a shiny, sparkling work of art without sewing rhinestones and covering it with sequins? Of course, to immerse him in the Dead Sea…

Israeli artist Sigalit Landau has submerged a black mourning dress to the bottom of the Dead Sea for three months. We are telling you about an unusual art project.

Sigalit called the project "Salty Bride". It was inspired by the 1916 play "Dybbuk" ("Between Two Worlds") by the writer Semyon Ansky. The plot of the play is based on Jewish folk legends — a young man, separated from his bride, enters into a contract with the devil and sells his soul to him. After death, his soul becomes a dibbuk — a demon that inhabits the girl and makes her possessed. The demon manages to be exorcised, but the girl dies.

During the time that the dress, sewn according to the fashion of the 19th century, was at the bottom of the sea, 8 photos were taken. They clearly show the stages of salt crystallization and transformation of the garment. While the dress was in the water, salt crystals formed on its fabric. With each new sparkling salty layer, the dress became harder.

The artistic interpretation of Sigalit shows how a black dress, a symbol of death and madness, turns into a white wedding dress in the dark waters of the Dead Sea.

Sigalit Landau chose the Dead Sea for her project for a reason. The artist grew up in a house on a hill overlooking the northern part of the Dead Sea. The girl has previously used salt-rich seawater for her projects to turn various objects into statues, covering them with crystals, and shooting underwater videos.

Sigalit says that the Dead Sea has a special kind of magic.