As Inside As The Eye Can See

An extreme close up of two eyes slowly approaching each other creates an atmosphere of acute intimacy and, at the same time, a disquieting alienation effect. The camera's view places the viewer in the voyeuristic position of an observer of two pulsating creatures almost too vulnerable in the nakedness of their parchment-like skin and its network of capillaries. The eyes move ever closer, yet their drawing nearer, with its implicit suggestiveness, ultimately fails. The distance between them becomes uncomfortably close. Their eyelashes turn into sharp, menacing needles that prick and pierce the delicate surface of the eyeballs. The eyes try to see something, but instead they touch. The optic turns tactile, thus rendering the act of seeing impossible. The eyes withdraw, leaving the screen starkly void.

In this video, Sanchez potently communicates how the intense desire to see the other, to participate in the life of the other on an intimate level, can lead to pain. We are often unable to see and understand, precisely because we are too close. We require some amount of critical distance for our visual and intellectual lenses to focus adequately. (Olena Chervonik)

*We can only show an excerpt of this work in the online archive. For the complete version, please contact the artist.