Abu Dhabi Art isn’t just keeping up with the digital revolution, it’s curating it. This year, the fair rolls out Outliers, a forward-thinking exhibition running until November 23 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, spotlighting how technology, AI, and blockchain are reshaping the way we create, collect, and connect through art.
Curated by the digital art initiative reimagined, Outliers presents two parallel worlds: one where blockchain becomes a playground for conceptual experimentation, and another where artificial intelligence blurs the line between artist and algorithm.
Blockchain Goes Boutique
The first showcase, Blockchain Native, aligns with the UAE’s Year of Community, fitting, since blockchain itself is built on a network of contributors, creators, and code. Here, art doesn’t just hang on walls; it lives, mutates, and interacts in real-time.
Expect pieces that are visually striking, technically audacious, and conceptually layered. Think less static canvas, more living digital organism.
The Artists Rewriting the Digital Rulebook
Burner by James Bloom
Bloom turns blockchain’s chaotic back-end into an atmospheric visual symphony. Live network activity morphs into shifting gas-like forms, an endless reminder that behind every transaction is a universe of motion we never see.
Gazers by Matt Kane
A thousand artworks that wax and wane with the moon. These generative pieces subtly change their colors, shapes, and rhythms, syncing with the lunar cycle and reminding us that digital art can reflect nature’s pulse just as poetically as a painting.
Infinite Garden by Leander Herzog
Collectors become gardeners in this blockchain-powered ecosystem where generative flora grow, merge, mutate, and interact. The result? A collaborative, ever-evolving garden rooted in code.
Lifeforms by Sarah Friend
Forget “ownership”, these NFTs need caretakers. Each must be given away within 90 days to survive, flipping traditional collecting on its head and transforming the market into a social ecosystem of stewardship.
PXL DEX by Kim Asendorf
Every pixel matters, literally. In this on-chain series, each pixel is a token, each token a building block of a hypnotic 3D animation. Add more PXL tokens, and the artwork grows beneath your fingertips.
Salt by 0xmons & Loucas Braconnier
Behind every photo lies invisible data, and Salt transforms this raw sensor noise into infinite, shifting abstractions. No fixed ownership, no final form, just pure digital expression in flux.
Terraforms by Mathcastles
Imagine landscapes carved from ASCII code, entirely stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Elevation, coordinates, even moon phases shape these hypnotic virtual terrains, a universe built from characters instead of clay.
AI Enters the Arena
As a special addition, the exhibition unveils Half Cheetah by James Bloom, a reinforcement learning AI that teaches itself to control a four-legged digital creature navigating a 3D space. Consider it a glimpse into the future where intelligence becomes a co-artist.
