Presented by Iham Gallery at Focus Art Fair 2023 x Saatchi Gallery, London, UK. Oct 5th, 2023. Art Release will be a Timed Edition on Foundation. Opens Oct 5th

“London Cipher” by ARTJEDI1 intertwines the intricate tales of the River Thames, as seen from the vantage of the skies and echoed in the pulse of its people — a symbiotic sonnet of past and present.
The artwork layers digital and analogue collages, starting with satellite views of the Thames, reflecting the river's significance to London. It integrates urban sounds capturing the city's pace, charts historical protests underscoring the city's embrace of expression, yet turbulent history, with a nod to recent movements like "Black Lives Matter." Natural elements introduce tranquility, showcasing the dance of light and wind on water. A personal touch is added with a concealed portrait of the artist and her child, uniting the past with the present in a portrait of London.

Sound: Analogue sound recording CC0 license.

The Secrets of this piece:
The piece is built in layers of digital and analogue collage. The layers comprise of the appropriated satellite imagery of the river Thames. In the footage the river runs its course from the edges of the city, from tributaries to the estuary, touching all the boroughs of the City, turning on itself and then opening up generously; from muddy and stagnant to tidal and refreshing. In all of the diversity of City’s population, there is one commonality shared:The River.

Second layer is composed of several live recordings of the urban chatter, the hustle and bustle that London is known for. The busy lives, the rush to reach one’s destination.

The third layer proposes a chronicle, “a list” of the important protests tracing the potent reverberations of two millennia of London's spirited challenges. Events that arguably marked a change in humanity’s awareness toward itself. A commendable reflection on city’s tolerance for  freedom of expression, on the other hand, revealing the turbulent past that its inhabitants have had to encounter thus far, the most recent being “Black Lives Matter”

The fourth layer brings us to Nature. The meditative and calming effect of water in the frenzied urban tempo. Nature’s algorithms present an ephemeral canvas, paintings with light and wind velocity on the surface of water by the artist.

Fifth Layer comprises of a personal hidden portrait of the artist with her infant child.

Sixth layer encompasses the canvas with the beat of the drums echo the tide of time.
A canvas as multifaceted as London's legacy, seamlessly melding the digital age with the profound resonances of past and future. of an ageless city.