
Prepare The Ingredients and Let The Rest Flow: Miramar and Zaid’s “Pure Data” Premieres at Satellite for Quoz Arts Fest 2022
By Latifa El Jubouri
Published on March 10th, 2022
The last weekend of January marked the most recent iteration of Quoz Arts Fest by Alserkal, a two-day activation of the creative neighborhood of Dubai’s Al Quoz and celebration of homegrown creatives from the region. The truest sense of this celebration came from no other than Satellite, the multipurpose gallery started by Rami Farook. Satellite has been nurturing Dubai’s creative scene since its opening on Alserkal Avenue, giving opportunities to talented young talent, keeping the artistic process sacred and communal. As a space, it’s home to people’s many firsts - first exhibition, first DJ gig, first curated exhibition - and as a place, it will forever remain in Dubai’s contemporary art history.
This is where Pure Data, a duo led by mural painter Miramar and sound artist Zaid (1800s Internet), decide to premiere their first audio-visual performance. On the evening of January 29th, the Jordanian pair, who share a studio space in Amman, blew our minds and awakened our visual and auditory senses with a three-hour long painting and sound improvisation. I caught up with Miramar and Zaid a few weeks later in Dubai Design District.
Latifa El Jubouri: How did this performance at Satellite come about?
Miramar: I connected with Rami online and met him when I came to Dubai for the first time to paint a mural for ICD Brookfield. We discussed ideas revolving around a live mural in Satellite and possibly creating a piece for Quoz Arts Fest. When I went back to Jordan, where I share a studio with Zaid, I reflected on how we co-exist in the space expressing ourselves through different mediums. I recognized the influence we have on each other as I’m always hearing him processing sounds and he’s always witnessing my pieces in progress, and we started conceptualizing how we can translate this into a performance.
“I’m always hearing him processing sounds and he’s always witnessing my pieces in progress, and we started conceptualizing how we can translate this into a performance.”
- Miramar
Zaid (1800s Internet): We didn’t have much time to prepare, so to lean into the spontaneity of the whole situation, we decided to do an improvised performance and expose the invisible threads connecting everybody present during the process of creation. Rami approved the concept and within a week we were in Dubai performing.
1. Pure Data, performance at Satellite, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. 29 January 2022. Photo: Amir Hazim
“Rami [Farook] approved the concept and within a week we were in Dubai performing.”
- Zaid (1800s Internet)
L.J: How did you two meet?
Z.: We met in 2020, we followed each other on Instagram and Miramar just messaged me very straightforwardly saying “we need to meet”. We became close friends and in early 2021 we rented out a strange red house in downtown Amman, where we currently operate from.
L.J.: The whole performance is an improvisation.
M.: Yeah, it was a new experience for me because I usually plan out painting a mural, there is no improvising in my process. However I noticed from experience working within the public sphere that there is always an observer, and being able to feel that and absorb my surroundings influences my original plan, and I end up adapting my ideas to the space. Improvising a painting in a performative setting, while also trying to communicate with Zaid while interpreting his sounds was very enlightening on my process and how the presence of others plays a role.
“I noticed from experience working within the public sphere that there is always an observer, and being able to feel that and absorb my surroundings influences my original plan, and I end up adapting my ideas to the space.”
- Miramar
Z.: I was slightly limited with the equipment I could travel with, and I didn’t want to only rely on musical ideas and instruments. I thought it would be more interesting to create atmospheres that contrast with the space we would be performing in, incorporating sounds I recorded in different spaces and binaural sounds I designed to emulate certain environments. I prepared a lot of generative patches processing all these recordings and improvised how and when I fade in or trigger them, while also using my voice as an instrument. When you’re improvising, everybody present becomes involved. Reactions from the crowd could influence me to do something differently, and vice versa. There are lots of feedback loops being generated between Miramar, myself and the audience. We decided not to practice before the performance because risk is a part of improvisation.
“I thought it would be more interesting to create atmospheres that contrast with the space we would be performing in, incorporating sounds I recorded in different spaces and binaural sounds I designed to emulate certain environments.”
- Zaid (1800s Internet)

“When you’re improvising, everybody present becomes involved. We decided not to practice before the performance because risk is a part of improvisation.”
- Zaid (1800s Internet)

Latifa El Jubouri is a producer, curator, DJ, and arts practitioner based in Dubai. She is the founder of Kenz Studioz and one of the leading forces behind Shabab Intl.
Miramar is a mural painter based in Amman, Jordan. Previous commissions include those by ICD Brookfield, Sattelite and North Face.
Zaid (1800s Internet) is a sound artist and producer based in Amman, Jordan.
All photos were taken by Amir Hazim at Satellite, Alserkal Avenue on January 29th, 2022.
Video by Ayar Rasool.
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