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Sharjah Art Foundation Releases ‘Art in Age of Anxiety’

Books stacked in a library. Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images
Books stacked in a library. Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images
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Sharjah Art Foundation Releases ‘Art in Age of Anxiety’

Books stacked in a library. Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images
Books stacked in a library. Guillermo Legaria/AFP/Getty Images

As part of its efforts to document the best modern art experiences in the region, and highlight major causes and challenges that face artists and experts regionally and globally, the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) released a new book "Art in the Age of Anxiety" that proceeds the dialogues held during a recent exhibition it organized under the same name between June 26 and September 26, 2020.

The book is edited by Omar Kholeif, SAF director of collections and senior curator, and its preamble is written by Hoor Al Qasimi, SAF president and director.

The book comprises 428 pages including articles by some of the most prominent intellects in the fields of image and Internet culture, covering the influence of widespread devices and electronic platforms on the audience. "Art in the Age of Anxiety" is co-released by London-based Morell Books and is being distributed around the world by The MIT Press.

The book also contains original articles, critical pieces, and artistic interventions that explore the digital world through various views. It also provides a photographic documentation of the exhibition, and showcases internet discoveries by many artists.

“Art in the Age of Anxiety” was made during the lockdown, which gives it a unique pattern that reflects our view of modern art during the crisis.

The publication also covers many topics including the future of finance, the role of art in post-COVID-19, mental health in the digital age and audience's experience with virtual exhibitions. The book was formed by a large team including writers, artists, designers, photographers, and publishers who raised important questions about our future and how humanity would adapt to it.

Among those who contributed to the book are Anonymous, Saira Ansari, Cory Arcangel, Jeremy Bailey, Douglas Coupland, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Omar Kholeif, Aruba Khalid, Norman M. Klein, WJT Mitchell and Todd Reisz.

It also features photographic articles by Cory Arcangel, Douglas Coupland, and SimonDenny, in addition to photographs from the exhibition by Danco Stepanovich.

Art in the Age of Anxiety exhibition aimed at exploring the impact of devices, modern technologies, and digital networks on our mass awareness in today's world. It brought together a group of modern artists, and featured over 60 artworks including sculptures, printings, videos, VR shows, robots, and algorithms produced by over 30 artists from around the world.

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Biggest Piece of Mars on Earth is Going Up for Auction in New York

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Biggest Piece of Mars on Earth is Going Up for Auction in New York

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

For sale: A 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth.

Sotheby's in New York will be auctioning what's known as NWA 16788 on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale that also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that's more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 11 feet (3 meters) long, The Associated Press reported.

According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike before traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, where it crashed into the Sahara. A meteorite hunter found it in Niger in November 2023, Sotheby's says.

The red, brown and gray hunk is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches (375 millimeters by 279 millimeters by 152 millimeters).

"This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot," Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in an interview. "So it´s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars."

It is also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, Sotheby's says.

Hatton said a small piece of the red planet remnant was removed and sent to a specialized lab that confirmed it is from Mars. It was compared with the distinct chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, she said.

The examination found that it is an "olivine-microgabbroic shergottite," a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma. It has a course-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine, Sotheby's says.

It also has a glassy surface, likely due to the high heat that burned it when it fell through Earth's atmosphere, Hatton said. "So that was their first clue that this wasn't just some big rock on the ground," she said.

The meteorite previously was on exhibit at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby's did not disclose the owner.

It's not clear exactly when the meteorite hit Earth, but testing shows it probably happened in recent years, Sotheby's said.

The juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton was found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it's ready to exhibit, Sotheby's says.

The skeleton is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, Sotheby's says. It's auction estimate is $4 million to $6 million.

Ceratosaurus dinosaurs were bipeds with short arms that appear similar to the Tyrannosaurus rex, but smaller. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, while the Tyrannosaurs rex could be 40 feet (12 meters) long.

The skeleton was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company.

Wednesday's auction is part of Sotheby's Geek Week 2025 and features 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils and gem-quality minerals.