Dreams in Color

"Scientific research supports the claim that the era of black and white television and film influenced the way people dreamed, resulting in a higher likelihood of monochrome (black and white) dreams for those who grew up during that period. While most people today dream in color, studies have shown a direct link between media consumption during childhood and the color palette of dreams in later life."

Mohammed Alsanie's new work Dreams in Color is an outdoor installation that transports visitors, through the medium of television, into a surreal alternate version of Riyadh.

For the installation, an old-fashioned CRT television set has been scaled up. On its screen, a number of looping videos will play to the audience. The artwork's name alludes to the transition from black-and-white to colour TV transmission between the 1960s and the 1980s, and its alleged influence on the colour palette of ones' dream.

Alsanie's new media art is heavily influenced by the aesthetics of the 80s, retro sci-fi and synthwave music. It is in this signature style that he transforms images of Riyadh, its landmarks and sunset scenes rendered in 3D worlds of neon hues and infinite light grid planes. The artist says that in his experiments, he is "always trying to find that perfect balance between both worlds, physical and digital". The videos will loop seamlessly without end, immersing the audience in the retro-futurist Riyadh they depict.