Mitochondria: Powerhouses

For Noor Riyadh 2021, Ahmed Mater collaborates with Factum Arte to develop the concepts he began to explore in 2017 with his piece Mitochondria: Powerhouses (2021). Mater’s work reflects on the concealed and unacknowledged forces behind religion and natural resources, and alludes to the radical transformations that have reconfigured Saudi society since the mid-20th century, first with the discovery of oil, and later with the founding of massive new urban centres. The artworks in this project include an installation with a Tesla coil, an instrument that uses electromagnetic induction to create flashes of lightning, and a series of sculptures made of fulgurite, vitrified sand that forms when lightning hits the ground. The artwork is presented for the first time in an outdoor setting.