With a mix of arabesque design and AI-generated imagery, artist Jason Seife’s latest exhibition bears elements of the intricate and the infinite.
Titled Generascope, his first solo show in the region is currently on view at ICD Brookfield Place in the Dubai International Financial Centre and features four new paintings, 50 prints of his NFT artworks and a digital animation shown on a large, immersive screen display.
Of Cuban and Syrian heritage, Seife was born in Miami and partly raised by an Iranian aunt. Growing up, he was surrounded by traditional Oriental rugs, the designs of which fascinated him so much from a young age that he drew them for a high school project.
With a background in graphic design, he began producing paintings in 2013 that he would become known for — detailed replications of arabesque carpets, transferred from textile to paint on canvas.
Playing with texture and material, Seife has also produced works with acrylic on concrete. In these pieces, he renders ornate patterns on the concrete surface while leaving gaps exposed or treated in a way that mimics sand, an effect that makes it seem as though the designs are emerging from a ruin.
To further his study of traditional textiles, he travelled to Morocco, Turkey, Iran and Syria to meet with carpet-weavers and artists.
Four meticulously executed paintings, produced in the past year, are on view as part of the show at ICD Brookfield Place, which is also presenting new elements in the artist’s practice, specifically his venture into generative art.
In late 2021, he collaborated with developer Andrew Cassetti to create an algorithmic code that turned 11 hand-drawn images (also called “seed images”) into infinite iterations of designs. In the end, Seife decided on 1,111 versions to be sold as NFTs on OpenSea. His first digital artwork sold for $100,000.
The algorithm is able to do this by splicing, mirroring and reflecting the units within the patterns, producing unconventional visuals that go outside of recognisable traditional patterns and motifs.
“My goal is to push this art form in any way I can,” Seife tells The National. “I went to Iran and Syria, both places are part of my heritage and where this art form started, and I wanted to understand what the rules were so I could go and see where I can bend and break them.”
He explains that his decision to go digital has its practical side. For one, he can produce new works faster. In comparison, his paintings take weeks or months to complete, as he has to sketch out a pattern before drawing it on canvas and painstakingly paint the elements by hand. At present he works alone, without assistants.
Seife says that through NFTs, he is also able to reach more audiences who are able to experience his creations in a different way via screens.
“People can zoom in and take time to see things in the artwork,” he says. “Instead of doing 100 prints of the same piece, with this I can still have differentiation within the pieces. It’s a great way for me to bring a wider audience into my work."
With the generative works, he says, the hand-drawn aspects are still there, this time combined with new configurations that, at times, surprise even the artist.
“Sometimes three-headed figures come out of it,” he says.
He gives the example of a bird, a common motif in traditional rugs. “I would normally draw the full figure, but the algorithm creates its own shape where only a part of it is used.”
This change is evident in his latest paintings, too, which are a departure from his previous works. Their patterns have not been pulled from classic arabesque designs, but from the AI-generated visuals, a kind of cycle from the analogue to the digital and back again.
Though the paintings bear familiarity to Orientalist designs, there is a strange glitch dissonance, producing a more structured and symmetrical kaleidoscopic look as opposed to the more richly detailed florals and patterns of works past.
With this process, Seife is experimenting with ways to bridge his formal painting and digital practices.
“When I approach a painting, there are certain things, compositionally, that I would not do. Since I’ve based these paintings on algorithmic outputs and recreating them on canvas, I’m finding these little elements that were in the original and have now become a new shape,” he says.
“It’s interesting to have this almost ‘forced’ version of my work, where the algorithm rearranges the artwork in a new way, then I make a painting out of it."
Despite these projects, Seife insists that his primary interest remains with putting the brush to canvas. “I’m a painter still. Even these digital works are coming from hand drawings, and they’ll always go back to that.” His approach to working with algorithms, he says, is to enable more versions of his work while still retaining the uniqueness of each pattern.
"[Generascope] was exciting to me because it was really collaborative. I’ve always used digital and analogue and bounced between the two, and with this I feel like this is a collaboration with a computer where the original ones become something else."
Generascope is on view at ICD Brookfield Place until April 3.
Company Profile
Company name: Big Farm Brothers
Started: September 2020
Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur
Based: Dubai Investment Park 1
Industry: food and agriculture
Initial investment: $205,000
Current staff: eight to 10
Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets
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A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
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'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
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Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
The specs
Engine: 2.5-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed auto
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Torque: 500Nm
Price: Dh300,000 (estimate)
On sale: 2022