Client: The US State Dept Art in Embassies Program

Overview

Part of the Reverse Abstraction series, This hexahedron was commissioned by the US State Department’s Art in Embassies program for the US consulate in Saudi Arabia.

The Reverse Abstraction series begins with a simple premise: that humans and computers perceive the world through different languages, and what is concrete for one is abstract for the other. The objects and shapes so familiar in human art can be neither perceived nor conceived by computers in their original form. Likewise, the codes that are so familiar to a computer are merely scattered symbols to human sensibility. The Reverse Abstraction series attempts to bridge the gap by constructing traditional objects in dual forms: as the classical object and as the hexadecimal and binary codes that represent them. Thus, abstraction becomes material, the meanings for humans and computers are united, and the duality is resolved.

TL;DR

The text is code. If a computer were to read that code it would see the object you are seeing. This is art you both can enjoy.

Goals

The Arts in Embassies Program asked me to create a work of art for the US consulate in Saudi Arabia. I had a concentration in art history with a focus on Islamic art. Using my knowledge I was able to adapt a work chosen by the State Department to fit the needs of the consulate.