The Invention and Conclusion of The Eye

Audio drama, 40 minutes, multi-channel playback

*This project took place as part of STAGES 2017 and is no longer on display

Location: 4th floor, Hudson’s Bay, 450 Portage Avenue, access by elevator or escalator
Hours: 12 – 6pm. The piece is open daily during the exhibition, playing every hour on the hour from 12pm to 5pm. * Last day September 3rd because of labour day weekend
Additional information: The sound piece will also air on CKUW Sundays: August 20th, 27th and September 3rd from 11am to 11:45am

Toril Johannessen’s artwork and process borders on the scientific in her research into natural phenomenon from the collection of the crystallized Icelandic Spar to researching the possibility of auroras forming near the equator. The artist focuses her research on perception, often building disorienting installations. For STAGES, Johannesen presents a multi-channel audio drama, The Invention and Retreat of the Eye, which takes a sci-fi look at the future of human vision. Her story is told through a single protagonist who depicts visions as a historical construct further developed through technology, and posits a future where the way we see becomes closer to the original definition of vision as describing the formation of mental images.

Norwegian artist Toril Johannessen’s practice borders on the scientific in her research into natural phenomenon from the collection of Icelandic Spar to an Aurora from the equator. She focuses her research on perception, often building disorienting installations. For Stages: Drawing the Curtain Johannesen will create a multi- channel audio piece titled The Invention and Retreat of the Eye, which takes a sci-fi look at the future of human vision.

Johannessen’s practice often engages methods and source material from the domains of science. Thematically her work spans a wide range of interests, from visual perception to linguistics; impossible energy cycles, alternative methods for time measurement; optical illusions and spatial disorientation. By combining scientific fact and the history of science with her own investigations, she applies a critical and subjective view toward the impact of modern science on the production of knowledge. Johannesen received her MA from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design. In addition, she spent a year studying at Mountain School of Art, and took part in the artist-in-residence program at WIELS, Brussels. She has exhibited widely, at venues and biennales including dOCUMENTA 13; the Istanbul Biennial; deAppel, Amsterdam; Witte de With, Rotterdam; the Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg and Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Johannessen is a member of the Flaggfabrikken Centre for Photography and Visual Arts, a Bergen based artist collective.

L’artiste norvégienne Toril Johannessen explore les frontières du scientifique dans sa recherche des phénomènes naturels de la collecte de calcite d’Islande à une aurore de l’équateur. Elle concentre ses recherches sur la perception, en construisant souvent des installations qui désorientent. Pour Stages: Drawing the Curtain, Johannesen va créer une pièce sonore multi-canaux intitulée The Invention and Retreat of the Eye, qui permet de regarder à la façon science-fiction vers le futur de la vision humaine. La pratique de Johannessen mélange souvent des méthides et des matériaux de divers domaine de science. Les thèmes qu’elle aborde recouvre un vaste variété d’intérêt, de la perception visuelle à la linguistique; les cycles d’énergie impossibles, des solutions alternative pour mesurer le temps; les illusions optiques et la désorientation spatiale. En combinant les faits scientifiques et l’histoire de la science avec ses propres recherches, elle offre une vue critique et subjective de l’impact de la science moderne sur la production du savoir.

Johannesen a reçu sa Maîtrise ès Arts de la Bergen Academy of Art and Design. De plus, elle a passé une année d’étude à la Mountain School of Art, et a pris part au programme de résidence d’artiste au WIELS, Bruxelles. Elle a exposé de nombreuses fois, dans des galeries et biennales telles que dOCUMENTA 13; Istanbul Biennial; deAppel, Amsterdam; Witte de With, Rotterdam; la Kunsthalle Wien, Vienne; Hasselblad Center, Göteborg et le Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Johannessen est membre du Flaggfabrikken Centre for Photography and Visual Arts, une collectif d’artistes basés à Bergen.