Daniel Canogar’s Bifurcation consists of electric-like bolts of light that zigzag up and down the Zebra Building of the King Abdullah Financial District. Connected to the internet, it reacts in real time to thunderstorms happening around the globe. The artist has created an algorithm that uses real-time data from a storm-tracking webpage. Every time a thunderstorm becomes active somewhere on the planet, a lightning bolt sparks up on the Zebra Building. The bigger the intensity of the storm, the more charged the projected animation becomes. Bifurcation metaphorically becomes a conduit for the planet’s electricity. It also underlines how our built environments and the energy that powers them are more intimately connected to natural sources than we realize.
King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD)
Spain / United States
Daniel Canogar (b. 1964) was born in Madrid to a Spanish father and an American mother, with his life and career split between Spain and the USA. Photography was his earliest medium of choice, receiving an MA from New York University at the International Center of Photography in 1990, but he soon became interested in the possibilities of the projected image and installation art.
Canogar has created permanent public art installations with LED screens including Aqueous at The Sobrato Organization, Mountain View (2019) or Tendril for Tampa International Airport, Tampa (2017). His artworks have been projected on emblematic façades including Amalgama El Prado at El Prado Museum, Madrid (2019) and Storming Times Square, screened on 47 of the LED billboards in Times Square, New York (2014). Solo shows include Billow, bitforms gallery, New York (2020); Liquid Memories, sala Kubo-Kutxa, San Sebastian (2019) and Melting the Solids, Wilde Gallery, Geneva (2018).
Dana Awartani
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Company New Heroes (est. 2009), based in Amsterdam, specializes in international multi-disciplinary storytelling projects, creative concepts and biobased creations, collaborating with an international network of creative professionals to create unique projects.
SEE ARTISTRiyadh Art’s ten programs and two festivals turn the city into a creative canvas, bringing public art to the spaces where people travel, work and play.
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