A crash course in digital arts at Art Dubai 2022

All things digital is the buzzword. Nobody is any longer talking of canvases and brushes, instead, the art vocabulary is now draped in NFTs, AR and VR, crypto and beyond. Step back, hit rewind and you’d learn that the fact of the matter is that digital art has been present in our lives since the 1980s, contrary to what many of us think or are aware of. For a crash course on what you’ve been missing out in the digital world and a peek into what lies ahead, make sure to drop by at the forthcoming Art Dubai. The 15th edition of the fair will feature over 100 exhibitors from 44 countries, including more than 30 first-time exhibitors, with doors opening on March 11 (until 13) at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

Amongst the many highlights of the fair is the new gallery section, Art Dubai Digital, which will feature several international platforms working with NFTs, contemporary galleries with projects devoted to new media and digital art, galleries that have been working with digital art since the 1980s, and NFT e-commerce sites and organisations that are turning existing physical art into NFTs. This section will also include a dedicated gallery section curated by Chris Fussner, Web3 specialist and Director of Tropical Futures Institute (Cebu, Philippines). The participants, representing a broad geographic base and featuring both traditional galleries and digital platforms, will include Institut, Postmasters, Bright Moments, HORIZONS by so-far and AORA, Cyber Baat, Morrow Collective, Emergeast and NFT Asia.

As for what you’ll view, be prepared to get mesmerised by Filipino-American light and media artist James Clar’s (Silverlens) interactive video installation entitled Cloud Seed, for the Julius Baer lounge at the fair. The installation will immerse visitors in a large-scale real-time simulation of raindrops and fog, using custom technology to create a slowly morphing visual system that reflects our control of the environment. Another interesting one would be the COSMODREAMS, an interactive installation by Russian figurative artist and painter Marina Fedorova, who will explore the effects of technological advancements on our lives and environment. This installation will combine traditional art and digital technologies in the form of large-scale paintings, sculptures, life-size objects and virtual reality video with interactive panels.

And when you’re done with it all, gather at the innovative Crypto Media Lounge and engage in a conversation with companies that support the communities, including cryptocurrency platforms, exchanges, and organisations providing the relevant tools to access the digital realm. Plus, the programme will also be supported by a new talks programme, which aims to give visitors more context about digital platforms, inviting guest speakers to explain more about the basics of cryptocurrency, digital media and NFT art. As they say, get ready for the future is now!

purva@khaleejtimes.com

• The Art Corner
• Dubai