Kaksi kamerasilmää katsoo (Two Camera-type Eyes Looking), 2022

Installation Kaksi kamerasilmää katsoo (Two Camera-type Eyes Looking) focuses on a gaze between human and octopus and the possibility of an encounter. The name of the exhibition refers to the similar type of eyes of these two distant relatives, eyes which are a result of two different evolutionary paths. The installation consists of three circular video projections, soundscape and an essay in a leaflet.

The work invites the viewers to place themselves under the gaze of another animal and ponders what kind of thoughts the act can provoke: Do we encounter another animal as an individual or as a representative of their species? What kind of a power relationship is connected to the act of looking or to the language that we use when we talk about other animals? How face and eyes are entangled in the ways that we humans are able to feel empathy?

The video material of the installation has been filmed in Southern Australia in the natural habitat of the octopuses by underwater videographer Dean Spraakman. The videos have been edited by Niklas Kullström and the soundscape is made by sound designer Jyri Pirinen together with the artist.

The work was exhibited at Kulttuuritalo Laikun studio, Tampere Finland, 2022.