Oculus
This installation is a work in progress, shown in its trial phase at Kunstgarasjen, Bergen
Oculus combines hand-blown glass lenses, and steel, MDF sculptures, silkscreened aluminium works, prints, and photography. Hexagonal glass lenses inspired by space telescopes each producing a unique optical distortion and functioning as modular elements for sculptural experiments with light, and perception. Floor-standing steel “oculi,” illuminated by slide projectors, cast scattered shadows; Constantly changing maps of light and shadow scan the space.
Historically, the oculus is a spiritual and architectural device; an opening or eye that connects earth and sky, interior and cosmos, vision and imagination. Here the all-seeing eye is technological, scanning the universe and sending signals; communicating, analysing and mapping. Studying outer space is an act of looking into the past, where reality is always mediated, delayed, and crystallized through technology. The installation proposes a state of uncertainty through which alternative futures, stories, and forms of connection might be imagined.
As moving lights pass through the screens and lenses, light and shadow take on transcendental and unsettling qualities, embracing imperfection, fragmentation, and ambiguity. Shifting geometric shadows and optical distortions continuously alter the viewer’s sense of space, producing a dreamlike experience. Referencing ancient and contemporary imaging technologies, from telescopes and microscopes to digital vision systems, the work reflects on how reality, past and future, vast and microscopic, is mediated through technological distortion, evoking themes of space, chaos, and science fiction.
Documentation Thor Brødreskift