camera, motorized pan tilt, 130cm x 220cm reproduction of the Cedid Atlas (page 46), monitor, speakers
photo credit: Gert Jan van Rooij
Why is it that images acquired at high altitudes are seen as more objective than those taken from the surface of the Earth? In their work Marina Papazyan presents viewpoints of a cartographer and the choreographed movements of a mechanical eye. Knowledge is not acquired by the immersion in an environment, but from the position of a detached rationale in which humans are absent. By dissecting this position, Papazyan reveals how dominant narrative constructions take over the mediation of space. The elements that constitute a selective perspective on the world are pulled apart, de-synchronised, so that the representation of territory opens up to new interpretations. We are invited to engage in this process of re-editing by either tuning-in on each component of the installation, or by watching the entire production as if from ‘back-stage’. Here, the information that is normally trapped in maps and video essays can migrate more freely and transmit insights along new lines of inquiry.
—Jasper Coppes