The work of Saudi-based artist Ahmed Mater, who has employed codes to build a digital replica of his painting ‘Magnetism,’ which represents the sacred Kaaba in Makkah’s grand mosque, has been unveiled by a virtual art gallery in Kuwait, which is known for collaborating with local talent in the Middle East.
The artwork, which was created using a magnetic black cube, features iron flakes that surround the object before rearranging themselves in complicated patterns to recreate the scene of pilgrims going in circles around Kaabah as part of a rite. Because codes can make endless variations of the same artwork in the form of varied patterns with ink on paper, the same artwork became ‘Infinite Magnetism’ when it was transferred into the digital domain.
The Bawa gallery has backed this project because experimental art is in accordance with its aesthetic, at a time when everything from audiovisual technology to artificial intelligence is being used to foster creativity.
The Kuwaiti virtual gallery has previously collaborated with local artists to showcase works such as Muslima Cyborg, which shows the female form, and Non-Land, which uses tracings on paper to capture the country’s nature.