‘Unassigned Presence’ flip book

This flip book comes from a work installed on a public hoarding in Al Quoz. It draws on the in-between spaces of an industrial landscape: areas left over from their assigned functions, yet full of life. Here plants grow without being planted, birds pause between movements, and people take short breaks between shifts, sitting together over tea.

The moving blue bird traces this presence, a passing life that rests, returns and continues. Set in public space, the work points back to what is already there: the unnoticed life of these in-between spaces, which carries on with or without the work.

• Size: 7 × 10 × 0.8 cm

About the artist

Ziya Ismail is an Indian artist and architect based in Dubai. Her practice begins with observation, both visual and emotional, drawing from processes that grow organically in nature and within human experience. She is interested in how forms emerge and how reactions unfold. Her work draws parallels between human life and natural systems, and through observing native plant life and ecosystems, raises questions of belonging, coexistence and shared space.