Monira Al Qadiri - Jameel Arts Centre

Monira Al Qadiri

OR-BIT 1

Monira Al Qadiri, OR-BIT 1, 2016, 3D printed plastic sculpture, automotive paint and levitation module, 20 x 30 x 20 cm, Art Jameel Collection. Photo by Mohamed Somji.

Artwork Details

Artist

Monira Al Qadiri

Title

OR-BIT 1

Date

2016

Medium

3D printed plastic, automotive paint and levitation module

Dimensions

30 x 20 x 20 cm

Credit Line

Art Jameel Collection

Work Description

The growing demand for oil has necessitated the development of specialised equipment for the optimisation of its extraction, refinement, and distribution. Owing to the remote and secure nature of oil infrastructure, much of this industrial technology remains largely unknown to the everyday consumer.

Monira Al Qadiri has produced a series of iridescent sculptural works based on one such apparatus: the drill heads used to bore through the Earth’s crust to tap subterranean deposits. OR-BIT 1, a spinning drill head levitates, hovering in mid-air and quietly rotates a few inches off its plinth, as a sort of “petro-magic” trick (thanks to repellent magnetic fields), presenting oil, and the technology used to extract it, as miraculous and mythic. The concentrated energy stored within the substance produces a fantastical condition of infinite growth and limitless possibility; it literally makes things come alive.

Though a replica of an oil drill bit, by being decontextualized, it instead resembles a Tower of Babel, evoking grandiose architecture of ancient civilizations. Monuments such as these are always manifestations of the power of those who built them, a means of expressing the extravagant wealth that allows for their construction. In our own times, oil has become one of the most lucrative industries owing to its necessity in nearly every aspect of daily life around the globe. OR-BIT reminds us of this fact by transforming oil’s unseen machinery into a monument to the oil industry’s might. But as magical and awe-inspiring as this levitating drill bit may be, its lack of a foundation suggests that the powers behind it are less sturdy than they might initially seem. OR-BIT ultimately strikes a foreboding tone, reminding us of the fragility of power and the inevitability that it will one day fall from grace.

Artist Biography

Monira Al Qadiri (b. 1983, Dakar, Senegal) lives and works in Berlin, Germany

Monira Al Qadiri is a visual artist whose work explores unconventional gender identities, petrocultures and their possible futures, as well as legacies of corruption. Spanning sculpture, installation, film and performance, her multifaceted practice is mainly based on research into the cultural histories of the Gulf region and manifested through speculative scenarios that take inspiration from science fiction, autobiography, traditional practices and pop culture, resulting in uncanny and covertly subversive works. Al Qadiri received a PhD in intermedia art from Tokyo University of the Arts (2010) and has been the subject of solo exhibitions at numerous international institutions, such as BOZAR, Brussels, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, US (both 2024); De Balie, Amsterdam, UCCA Dune, Beijing and Kunstaus Bregenz (all 2023); Guggenheim Bilbao (2022); Hans der Kunst, Munich (2020); the Sursock Museum, Beirut and Gasworks, London (both 2017). She has participated in many biennials such as Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023) and 16 (2025); 24th Biennial of Sydney (2024); 59th Venice Biennale, the 1st Diriyah Contemporary Biennale and 58th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (all 2022), and the Asian Art Biennale, Taiwan (2021). Her videos and short films have been screened at MoMA, New York (2018); Rotterdam Film Festival (2018); Kunsthalle Schirn (2017), Le Centre Pompidou (2016) and Berlin International Film Festival (2014).

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