Quayola's Technological Sublime at Bologna's Torre Unipol

The exhibition 'Ways of Seeing' by media artist Davide Quayola (born Rome, 1982) opened at CUBO, the corporate museum of Gruppo Unipol, located on the 25th floor of Torre Unipol in Bologna. Curated by Federica Patti, the show is part of the sixth edition of 'das – dialoghi artistici sperimentali', a cross-disciplinary series focusing on contemporary art and culture. Quayola presents a series of videos and digital paintings generated through algorithms, software for data analysis and manipulation, and AI techniques. The works depict powerful natural landscapes derived from ultra-high-definition footage of stormy seas off the coast of Cornwall. The artist's digital creations evoke the Romantic sublime, reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich's 'Wanderer above the Sea of Fog' and J.M.W. Turner's seascapes, emphasizing nature's overwhelming force and humanity's insignificance. The exhibition explores how new artistic languages—algorithms, virtual reality, artificial intelligence—can induce complex emotions of wonder and awe, blending positive and negative responses. Quayola's work transforms raw data into immersive aesthetic experiences, pushing the boundaries of digital art.