Misk Art Institute's 'The Silent Age of Singularity' surveys digital art in Riyadh through February 27

Misk Art Institute presents 'The Silent Age of Singularity' at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Arts Hall in Riyadh, running until February 27. Curated by Basma Alshathry with Aram Al-Ajaji, the exhibition explores artistic responses to technological change, proposing a 'Creative Singularity' where artists influence digital tools. Works include Ayman Yossri Daydban's flashing screen installation 'Beautiful Image' (2021), Turki Alqahtani's 'Kilobytes' (2024) with looping GIFs referencing Arab digital culture, and Eiman Elgibreen's 'Electronic Veils' (2018) series printing emails on plexiglass. Historical pieces feature Samia Halaby's 1980s digital paintings and Nam Jun Paik's television sculptures. Other artists include Ibrahim Abumsmar with 'No Signal' (2006/2015), Ahmed Mater's 'Green Antenna' (2010), Khaled Makhshoush's animations 'Cranes and Early Evening' (2024), Mohammed Chrouro's RGB gradients, Soufiane Idrissi's canvases mimicking Google Image Search, and Ziad Kaki's monochromatic 'Surveillance' (2019). The show references post-internet art, a term coined in 2006 by Marisa Olson, which peaked in the early 2010s and declined after the 2016 Berlin Biennale curated by DIS. Post-internet art treated the internet as a toolkit rather than a medium, bridging digital and physical realms. The exhibition lacks theoretical grounding specific to its regional context, according to the review, despite engaging with themes of digital identity and local culture.