Dhia Dhibi TN
DESENSITIZING CONSENT
Facilities
Exhibition : “Disobedience in the Digital Age”
From October 23 to December 13, 2026
From Wednesday to Sunday, 2pm to 7pm
Friche la Belle de Mai
La Tour, 4th floor
Marseille
Ages 16 and up
Credits
Produced at Espace Mouhit, with support from AFAC and Le 32Bis.
The project consists of two distinct but complementary works: OVERHEATING, a 2-minute, 40-second fixed-shot video with sound, and DESENSITIZING, an installation comprising 15 suspended pieces.
DESENSITIZING : The installation comes in three different formats, all derived from those of smartphones, computer screens, and Instagram posts. These 15 pieces, created from screenshots taken by the artist since October 7, 2023, without any particular intention, are either printed on fabric or printed and then mounted on a metal mesh. Each piece is enhanced with raised elements made from objects taken from the “innards” of computers. Here and there, one can recognize various types of capacitors and integrated circuits attached with gold wire to the image printed on fabric and backed with cotton batting. These objects were meticulously selected by the artist based on their role within the computer, particularly in image generation. Framed by a strip of fabric, these pieces are held vertically in front of viewers by a silver bar whose shape evokes the tabs on web browsers.
OVERHEATING : The video’s static shot shows a green electronic circuit. The only movement or event that animates the sequence seems to originate directly from the circuit itself. Caused by the overheating of its components, a single dot gradually spreads across the lower part of the frame and transforms into a stream. Generated by an app, the voice-over—the video’s sole soundtrack—seems to follow and reflect the rhythm of a text written by the artist and superimposed in the form of fragmented sentences over the static shot. In it, the artist expresses her distress and anxiety in the face of an overconsumption of images and digital stimuli, which fosters a tendency to trivialize content and leads to desensitization to the world’s suffering. The individual would thus lose all sense of empathy. By analogy, one might initially draw a connection in *SUR mode* between the circuit’s overheating process and the sensory overload experienced by the user, caused by overstimulation of the senses.
Dhia Dhibi
Dhia Dhibi is a Tunisian multidisciplinary visual artist, curator, and researcher. His work takes a critical look at the social and political dimensions of art and technology. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 3D digital art and filmmaking, he broadened his scope by pursuing a research master’s degree in art theory and postgraduate studies in curatorial practices.
Through his participation in several residencies and exhibitions—both with local Tunisian art institutions and international ones—Dhibi’s artistic approach has evolved to explore the materiality of digital display. He studies the underlying technological infrastructure, as well as the deconstruction of algorithms in Tunisia and the broader SWANA region, and the social and political implications of these systems. Through multimedia installations, sculptures, videos, and digital art, he explores how technologies shape perceptions, behaviors, and social structures, focusing on the specific nature of these interactions within the region’s digital landscape. This critical perspective also informs her curatorial and research work.
