Everything the Desert Doesn’t Have
Digital study · arrangement in development.
solar time
Scroll to walk. Move back to return.
Pause motion holds the viewpoint and stops the automatic light sequence. Scroll still changes the daylight. Use the labelled timeline or endpoint buttons to choose a view directly, or resume motion to walk.
A continuous walk around Jakub Trajter's herd at the mirror, drawn from his scene file. Start at 3:33pm solar time, pass through sunset, midnight and dawn, and finish at 11:11am the next day. Scroll in either direction or use the labelled slider and endpoint buttons. Reduced motion starts with the viewpoint held, with changing daylight and the complete journey available under manual control. The visitor stand-ins use licensed photographic scans, fitted to the scene for scale. The sky and lighting use an equinox at 40 degrees north; the form's orientation is a study choice, not a confirmed installation site. The mirror's reflections and its reflected sunlight are approximations.
Scene · from Jakub’s supplied 3D file · equinox daylight, 40° N
Everything the Desert Doesn’t Have
Come closer.
Stay a little.
Five individual deer and a mirror. A place to pause, touch and find yourself among the herd.
01 / The real thing
Photographs · three at 4896 × 3264 px, Fujifilm X-T10 · two at 598 × 799 px, project brief
Four deer finished.
The fifth is in the workshop.
From the studio · 28 October 2026
Every facet,
by hand.
Modelled triangle by triangle. Welded edge to edge. Each animal has its own slopes, its own transitions, its own pose.
The seams stay visible.
The patina keeps changing.
02 / The hand in the work
Film · drawn over a photograph · Fujifilm X-T10 · 4896 × 3264 px
The mirror holds
what is there.
Sky. Ground. You.
A mirror-polished stainless-steel form carries the surroundings into the work. Its image changes with every person who stops in front of it.
Stainless steel 304 · formed through Jakub’s explosive steel-forming technique
03 / The sky comes with you
Film · reflects a photograph · Fujifilm X-T10 · 4896 × 3264 px
Walk between them.
Put a hand on the steel.
Stay a little longer.
Among
the animals.
No programme. No prescribed route. The work makes room for a quiet encounter, alone or with someone else.
04 / A place to enter
Photographs · two at 4896 × 3264 px, Fujifilm X-T10 · one at 598 × 799 px, project brief
A seam of light.
A small island
beneath each deer.
By day, the polished steel belongs to the sky. After dark, a line in its seam and light beneath the herd are proposed.
Lighting study · still in development
Proposed light · diagram
05 / When daylight leaves
Film · proposed light over a 598 × 799 px photograph
Figures · project brief · 28 October 2026
06 / The practical outline
Made for
the place.
The composition can open up, close in or turn towards the sunset. Its final arrangement will respond to the site.
- The herd
- 5 individual deerFour finished · one in progress
- Scale
- Life-sizeAbout 70 cm at the back · 1 m with the head
- The mirror
- 3 metres tallDesign height · mirror-polished stainless steel 304
- Footprint
- Approximately 6 × 6 metresPlanned · adaptable to placement
- After dark
- Seam light + underlightingIn design · proposed solar power and battery
Assembly, anchoring and the digital study
Designed to leave with us
Steel base plates, some shared, with removable ground anchors. No concrete is planned. Assembly is bolted on site; welding and grinding happen off-playa.
The brief gives indicative masses of about 50 kg per deer and about 150 kg per base plate. Final placement and anchoring remain part of the site design.
About this digital study
The sculpture comes from Jakub’s supplied 3D file. The digital arrangement, orientation, light and reflections are interpretive studies, rather than a verified installation plan.
The proposed physical work has five deer. The supplied digital scene contains six. Photographs above show the real sculptures; the opening scene shows a spatial study.
Licensed photographic visitor scans establish scale. Daylight uses an equinox model at 40° north. The walk runs from 3:33pm to 11:11am the next day.
Project brief · 28 October 2026 · completed work and developing decisions are distinguished above.
07 / The people behind the work
Sculpture and material
Jakub Trajter
Hand-worked steel, visible seams, pressure and the trace of making.
Explore Jakub’s workDigital experience
Filip Dam
The light, viewpoint and movement of this digital interpretation.
Photograph · Fujifilm X-T10 · 4896 × 3264 px · film: type only