When the world went into lockdown, the art world moved to online exhibitions and 3D rendered gallery spaces. But the approach merely transposed virtual iterations of physical work like sculpture and art installations onto a digital platform. The New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Art Gallery is taking things to the next level. Their latest exhibition is tailored entirely for smartphones.
Entitled ‘not in, of, along, or relating to a line’, the show touches on the notion of experiential relativity with no defined path. Visitors will be able to use their touchscreen to move from artwork to artwork, towards a series of different paths, making each journey entirely unique.
Curated by Maya Allison, Executive Director of The NYUAD Art Gallery and Heather Dewey-Hagborg, independent artist and faculty member at the university, the exhibition features nine artists who primarily deal with technology in their creative approach.
The artworks have been specifically designed for the exhibit’s concept of ‘born digital’. “This distinguishes it from work that accidentally ends up online as documentation, for example,” explained Dewey-Hagborg to The National. “We think this makes for a particularly strong online exhibit because it isn’t trying to force work that is meant to be viewed in person, like sculpture, on to a digital distribution platform. Rather, the online platform amplifies the already digital nature of the work.”
The exhibition will highlight the work of Iranian-American trio Ramin, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian. Entitled ‘From March to April… 2020’, the piece is a video diary that was made during lockdown, documenting overhead shots of their table that was crowded with paint, drawings, food and newspapers.
Also featured is artist Addie Wagenknecht’s ‘Opsec and Beauty’ series. Inspired by popular beauty hacks on YouTube, the American artist evokes the idea of cybersecurity through cosmetic tutorials. For example, a video is titled ‘korean sheet masks and password management for pore refining wins’.
You can also discover American artist Sophia Al-Maria who will be premiering a generative poem developed by an AI bot that was trained on her own writing.
‘not in, of, along, or relating to a line’ will run from January 20 to July 10, 2021
nyuad-artgallery.org
Photos courtesy of NYU Abu Dhabi
