RIYADH: The Spra Center, in partnership with four artists, has brought the exhibition “Movement” to Diriyah.
The display platform for techno artists, which is running throughout March at Jax District, showcases the works of four Saudi artists: Rashed Shashai, Khalid bin Afif, Moath Alofi, and Abdullah Al-Othman.
Shashai’s creation, named “White Flag,” portrays a moving flag on a washing machine. Traditionally associated with surrender and truce, in this context it takes on a deeper meaning of resilience and hope.
It also reflects the dichotomy between surrender and power. As the machine operates, the flag gracefully moves, symbolizing the start of a path toward peace and transformation, much like a race.
Bin Afif’s coastal environment has had a profound impact on his work. He drew inspiration from his experiences with the sea and the meditative moments that sparked questions about the power of the color blue on the human psyche and the meeting of the sky with the horizon of the sea.
The movement in his work is inspired by his sense of the sea’s motion. He has used empty water bottles collected from around him in the artistic environment of Jax District, where he currently resides, to highlight their impact in creating a sense of value and reaffirming the emotional connection between humans and the essence of nature.
Bin Afif told Arab News: “In the ‘Movement’ exhibition we try to reconsider everything that is static. We want to move ideas and we hope that the recipient will come and interact with these works as something exciting and surprising.
“The condition that exists in the arts in general makes a person move, but in this exhibition the art itself moves.”
Alofi’s piece “Lucif” dynamically displays rocks with flashes of light passing through them. The artist was inspired by the desert in the Tuwaiq Mountains of Saudi Arabia and the ancient coral found there to highlight the complexity of the world. He integrates the mystery and magic of exploring the presence of fluorescent elements as a source of the unknown that exists in everything.
Alofi said: “The work attempts to understand the movement of light in a different way, and the relationship of our environment with the coral reefs radiating light from hundreds of years ago that existed under the Tuwaiq Mountains.”
Al-Othman is known for using aluminum foil in his creations, and the installation “Tent” is a suspended tent made of tin foil. It evokes a sense of wonder and tranquility simultaneously.
The tent’s skin is a thin metal layer that slowly disintegrates, making time a strikingly visible entity.
The exhibition depicts movement in its artwork to help people of this era identify with it.
The Spra Center is a platform that serves as a medium to fulfill the dreams of numerous artists who aim to participate in the world of movement and create techno and contemporary art through the use of light, electronics, and software.
