It likely goes without saying that we now live in a time of unprecedented technological complexity, rapid communication, and massive scale. Internet searches are our go-to source for nearly every type of information, billions of people carry smartphones capable of instantly and broadly sharing photographs and videos, and massive populations, governments, and financial systems dwarf us as individuals. We are often so deeply immersed in these systems that they result in a double vision—a relationship to reality built in part upon our own immediate experiences, but also upon highly mediated connections to parts of the world that we have never actually seen with our own eyes. In the same way that double vision as a medical condition can make it impossible to resolve a clear image, this contemporary double vision often yields blurred combinations. Despite our new access to images and information, we do not always feel more connected to the world around us, and we often neglect to tease apart the disparate sources of our mental pictures.
The four artists featured in Double Vision address a broad array of topics including surveillance, self-image, state power, cybernetic connectivity, and personal memory in a collective attempt to expose and scrutinize this split in contemporary knowledge. Ranging from sculpture to video, prints, and drawings, their work does not reject new technologies and challenges, but rather insistently confronts the pressing and ongoing need for conscientious responses to them.
Double Vision is curated by Olivia Dudnik and Jeff Katzin as the tenth installment of the Series. The show runs from March 8–31 at FJORD, (1400 N. American St., Suite 105, Philadelphia). The opening will be held Thursday, March 8th from 6–9pm as part of the Crane Arts Building's second Thursday event. The closing reception will be Friday, March 30th from 7–10pm with a panel discussion at 7:30pm.
