Speculative: Screens
Speculative Horizons is initiating and staging a series of experimental international satellite projects that will be hosted as online exhibitions and physically in gallery spaces across Australia, Kuwait and Japan.
A pregnant silence reigns. At length, however, as if struck by a thought, it turns towards – and begins to approach – a television set in a corner of the room: a perfectly square black Sony. The screen is dark, and as dead as the far side of the moon, but the camera seems to have sensed some kind of presence there – or perhaps a kind of foreshadowing. Wordlessly, we share this presence or foreshadowing with the camera as we stare at the screen in close-up. The clock displays “0:00.”
Screens… they are ubiquitous. We love them… we hate them. Liquid vision for both entertainment and political propaganda. Those with a sharp eye over visual culture will be aware that screens are also a trope in image-making that have increasingly been sneaking into visual vocabulary post WWII. Predominantly, television screens but more recently phones, monitors, surveillance and tablets. Visual overload for the already informationally overloaded.
The images featured in Speculative: Screens act like meta-mirrors reflecting the image-maker and viewer at once and prompt us to consider lens practice and our viewing habits and behaviours. There is no judgement here – watch what you want – yet another visual record that may illuminate some thought on why we like pictures of screens and perhaps further philosophical ideas on our obsession moving images.
We hear a faint electrical crackling, and a hint of life crosses the TV screen as it begins to flicker almost imperceptibly. Could someone have entered the room and turned on the switch without us noticing? Could a pre-set timer have come on? But no: our ever-alert camera circles to the back of the device and reveals that the television’s plug has been pulled. Yes, the TV should, in fact, be dead. – Haruki Murakami After Dark (2007)
Curated by Joe Blair, Alex McLaren, Brie Trenerry & Kristian Häggblom with assistance from Belle Tweedale.
Supported by Final Grade, In Form Library and Two Inadequate Voices.
The International Call-out
What
Up to three images of screens from televisions, surveillance, smart device & phone screens, etc.
Format
A single PDF file no longer than two pages including a short biography and short statement about the embedded image/s.
Outcome
a curated selection of prints will be complementarily produced by Peter Hatzipavlis from Final Grade and exhibited in experimental spaces across the three countries. A larger selection of images will featured on our website and social media accounts.
Speculative: Screens
Speculative Horizons is initiating and staging a series of experimental international satellite projects that will be hosted as online exhibitions and physically in gallery spaces across Australia, Kuwait and Japan
A pregnant silence reigns. At length, however, as if struck by a thought, it turns towards – and begins to approach – a television set in a corner of the room: a perfectly square black Sony. The screen is dark, and as dead as the far side of the moon, but the camera seems to have sensed some kind of presence there – or perhaps a kind of foreshadowing. Wordlessly, we share this presence or foreshadowing with the camera as we stare at the screen in close-up. The clock displays “0:00.”
Screens… they are ubiquitous. We love them… we hate them. Liquid vision for both entertainment and political propaganda. Those with a sharp eye over visual culture will be aware that screens are also a trope in image-making that have increasingly been sneaking into visual vocabulary post WWII. Predominantly, television screens but more recently phones, monitors, surveillance and tablets. Visual overload for the already informationally overloaded.
The images featured in Speculative: Screens act like meta-mirrors reflecting the image-maker and viewer at once and prompt us to consider lens practice and our viewing habits and behaviours. There is no judgement here – watch what you want – yet another visual record that may illuminate some thought on why we like pictures of screens and perhaps further philosophical ideas on our obsession moving images.
We hear a faint electrical crackling, and a hint of life crosses the TV screen as it begins to flicker almost imperceptibly. Could someone have entered the room and turned on the switch without us noticing? Could a pre-set timer have come on? But no: our ever-alert camera circles to the back of the device and reveals that the television’s plug has been pulled. Yes, the TV should, in fact, be dead. – Haruki Murakami After Dark (2007)
Curated by Joe Blair, Alex McLaren, Brie Trenerry & Kristian Häggblom with assistance from Belle Tweedale.
Supported by Final Grade, In Form Library and Two Inadequate Voices.
The International Call-out
What
Up to three images of screens from televisions, surveillance, smart device & phone screens, etc.
Format
A single PDF file no longer than two pages including a short biography and short statement about the embedded image/s.
Outcome
a curated selection of prints will be complementarily produced by Peter Hatzipavlis from Final Grade and exhibited in experimental spaces across the three countries. A larger selection of images will featured on our website and social media accounts.
Saad Alsharrah Kaino E
Kristian Haggblom Atami
Saad Alsharrah Kaino E
Kristian Haggblom Atami
