Frequency takes place on the two floors of the Rhinoceros Gallery in Rome with the artistic direction of Fondazione Alda Fendi – Esperimenti. The installations light up like candles in the dark thanks to the lights that shape the works in the dim light, to the video projectors that draw words and images in concentric and incessant loops. The visitor is catapulted into the darkness of the rooms, into the buzz of background voices, the scent of incense and smoke, enveloped in a unique atmosphere of sacredness and rituality.
For the Saudi artist Sultan bin Fahad, Frequency is the spiritual, metaphysical, and visceral voice of humanity. For this reason, the White Noise, that is the White Sound, becomes the grand finale of his project for the exhibition at the Rhinoceros Gallery in Rome. The location is Palazzo Rhinoceros, an ancient historic residence of tenement house in Rome, transformed by the famous architect Jean Nouvel into one of the most interesting cultural centers of the capital. The building adjacent to the Arch of Janus and located between the Palatine Hill, the Capitoline Hill, the Imperial Forums, the Colosseum, and the Circus Maximus, is the starting point for advancing between present and past: a jumble of cultures, religions, art and projects for the future. And it is precisely the philosophy which distinguishes Nouvel that Sultan’s work approaches.
“My idea is to be in a place of worship where the individual relates to their feelings. The dimension of feeling is strictly intimate, a dimension in which each individual relates personally to their feelings and to the elements of the environment in which they find themselves.” Sultan bin Fahad
Frequency is the essence of a concept that constitutes both the general title and the constant soundtrack. It appears and disappears, just like an underground river whose presence is nevertheless constantly felt. This idea of his comes from the sound generated by the prayer voices of millions of visitors who go to Makkah.
Choral and deafening sound, rhythmic and asynchronous roar, a flow of disparate tones, an immense roar that becomes a memory and a hope of recovery. In reality, Frequency merges with White Noise, a concept extrapolated from the technological and electronic language with which an average and continuous frequency is defined, composed of a choral sound. To better understand this phenomenon, one can think of Newton’s Disc: the multiplicity of colours perceived by the human eye that suddenly become a single white and the result of the vortex and continuous circular movement.
“White Noise is the deafening sound of silence where the voices of humanity gather in a moment. It is the smoke that makes images blurry to reconnect them to their essence. Frequency tells of a deeply intimate and human journey in which the focus is on what we feel like when we are alone contemplating the sky. White Noise is the essence. It is the universal message and the dimension in which we can meet both ourselves and the Divine.” Sultan bin Fahad
The sum of everything and at the same time is an extreme synthesis: “zeroing. The exhibition is developed in six moments, six rooms, and six installations. The artist conceives a path that allows visitors to have an experience passing through places rich in sensations and meanings. In fact, Sultan maintains that his goal is to capture what is inherently intangible through objects and dynamics belonging to material culture. This vision is the meaning of the ancient stones and the ritual gestures with which he builds the scaffolding of his installations, precisely to demonstrate their social and collective potential.
Frequency runs until the 10th of December.
Information extracted from the press release.
