Rhizome

For Noor Riyadh 2021, Tom and Lien Dekyvere’s Rhizome (2021) joins the trees of the Palm Oasis with a web made of hundreds of meters of illuminated rope. The word ‘rhizome’ originates from the world of botany and has been used by philosophers and media theorists to refer to various forms of networks. This site-specific work reflects on the various on and offline connections humans make in all sorts of manners, consciously and unconsciously. Via websites, co-creation, even couch surfing: people are linked in many ways. The piece also symbolizes a house, a cocoon from which to meditate on contemporary society’s (dis)connectedness.