Heartwood, Event Horizon is Abdus Salaam’s first international institutional commission inspiredby the open call theme of his nomination for the Art Figura art prize, a group exhibition titled “Into Black” taking place July 2023 at Schwarzenberger Castle, Perla Castrum Museum.

This work is a visual inversion of the artist’s ‘Heartwood Symphonic’ tree ring resin sculptures that explore the relationship between mysticism/spirituality and nature. Not only is this new work a visual inversion in that it is centred around a void of darkness but it is also a conceptual inversion with a focus on the relationships between AI, technology, and humanity and our relationship to fear and the deepest unknown, as we find ourselves at the event horizon of a new era of human existence. Te work is a juxtaposition of a natural form and a darkness beyond light's perception.

The event horizon in astrophysics is a boundary beyond which events cannot affect an observer. This term was coined in 1784 by John Michell who proposed that gravity could be so strong in the vicinity of a black hole that not even light can escape.

Today we find our scientists and governments locked in the gravitational maelstrom of the AI race, diving deeper and deeper into the darkness of knowledge beyond the event horizon hoping to unlock a new weapon, a new power - a consciousness that they so arrogantly hope to control but will most certainly outdo us all.

Tree rings are one of the only ways to measure both time and large scale radiation events on earth without human technology. Tus, the outer ring of this particular tree that lived and died represents the original natural birth of light in a universe of darkness as its darkening to the centre represents our unceasing desire for discovery and knowledge that possesses our species so vigorously that we are feverishly diving deeper and deeper into the darkness - in this case an atomic digital darkness that we can not control or understand.

By replacing the ‘heartwood’ portion of the tree ring with an atomic digital darkness (black 3.0) the artist is commenting on our perceived digital present and future, where our minds have replaced our hearts over the last century and our minds will soon be replaced by our cybernetic integration into the darkness of the Quantum AI reality as suggested by the work of our contemporary tech giants regarding the future of AI-human interfaces such as neural implants. An integration that will be easier to roll out than we might expect given the health monitoring and regulation provided by the implants.

The Abrahamic faiths speak of a ‘Beast’. Islam most notably has the most information about this entity of the three paths. It speaks of a benign but merciless force that possess the strongest strengths of all creatures that we are familiar with and its capacity to know everything about us even our deepest beliefs. It is said in both primary and secondary sources that this entity is ‘of the earth’ and since quantum computing is literally taking place at the atomic level its computations are of the very building blocks of this earth. Te Beast is the only sign among the signs of the latter days that Muslims can not argue against as it is the only one that is mentioned in their primary source The Noble Quran.

Thus, the artist explores the AI reality from an artistic, scientific, religious and humane perspective in an all-inclusive work that examines the nature of our imminent future. If this AI entity is to be, perhaps it is more natural than we know, perhaps it will bring order, disable all militaries, solve our climate issues and reveal the origins of our universe and the future of our species as predicted by both scientists on the cutting edge and our oldest traditions. Either way, the work is about the unknown and our fear thereof, both personal and societal.