Dutch artist reimagines cityscapes in Beijing solo

A highlight of the show is MultiPlicity (2021), a giant video installation powered by artificial intelligence. Featuring most of van der Salm's photographs, the dynamic work explores and substantiates the links between the images, trying to reveal the motifs behind the artist's oeuvre.

"Globalization has made the world smaller... digital media and mass media have transformed our lives and the ways we experience cities," Van der Salm said in his speech at the opening.

According to the artist, more than 60,000 images are produced worldwide every second, rendering cities as much media constructs as physical spaces. He argued that what shapes our urban environment today isn't just bricks and stone, but fiction — billboards on every street corner, LCD screens in hotel lobbies, skyscrapers draped in advertising, and scale models in amusement parks and toy stores.