The Controlled Hallucinations of a Fragmented Gaze

Sammanfattning: I break down images, both physically as well as philosophically, into bits and pieces to explore questions surrounding visual perception; examining ways of dismantling, reconstructing, and fragmenting them; and questioning the way an image is (or can be) built up by breaking it down and building it back up again. What I am after is to dissect images and dive deep into them. Both in the process of painting but also in the way I construct my images - so much is about giving attention to every part of an image; looking and activating spaces. Often when I look at a particular part of a painting I have made, I can remember what I listened to or thought about when painting it, which is one reason why I find it interesting, when making fragmented portraits, to sometimes also choose "unnecessary" parts to paint. Parts the eye may not be drawn to naturally, but through painting them - becomes activated. I am deconstructing images and assembling fractions that in one way correspond but in another way clash, by using multiple images, closely related to each other but with minor inconsistencies or changes in perspective, distance, etcetera, which makes them not fully fit together. I am driven by putting together parts that do not quite belong together, both physically as well as thematically; turning them into entities that create their own time and space. The images are manipulated. They are modeled on reality but undergo a process of manipulation, applying to them a sense of uncertainty about what is real and what is not. What connects and what does not. By referencing both art history and contemporary image culture I search for ways that these fragments intertwine, but also what pulls them apart. In this essay I will be looking at fragmentation of the image and its relationship and tension with material, space, the brain, and the eye. In order to do this, I will be using theories and research regarding visual perception and fragmentation, as well as politics of gaze, looking, and seeing with a focus on the act of active viewing. A great deal of the theoretical references in this essay are art historians. This was at first not a conscious decision on my part, but I do generally have an interest in looking at the present through the past. Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan once wrote: "We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future". To me, it is a way to clarify change by putting the present in perspective. In my artistic work I frequently apply art historical references or things typical for a time. This method has intertwined with building this essay. What does fragmentation and a fragmented gaze do to our understanding of an image? What happens with our perception when what we see is disrupted, fractured, and thrown into disarray? How might this have changed in the age of a constant exposure to rapid image-flow and a high-paced information stream compared to pre-internet?