Martine Stig : Close Encounters
Installation views: “Close Encounters ” Marlborough Gallery., Madrid, 2023, Courtesy of the artist and Marlborough Gallery.
The exhibition Close Encounters brings together a selection of new works by Dutch artist Martine Stig that explore other spectral sensitivities. The work delves into visual realms that are invisible to the (human) naked eye but can be seen by machines and animals. Leveraging technology’s ability to re-imagine, the boundaries between humans and nature slowly shift, and we are encouraged to explore our environment, of which we are an indelible part, and expand our concept of reality.
We live in a post-optic world. Human vision is decentralized as (sole) base for knowledge production to make room for the nonhuman (machines, animals, plants). Yet, our worldview is based on optical information (“seeing is believing”!), and our visual culture leans heavily on old habits: affirming the human spectrum as the norm and celebrating the indexical qualities of the image.
Courtesy of the artist and Marlborough Gallery
The post-optic, as Carolyn L. Kane coins it, is an extension ànd a challenge of vision rooted in optics. It's through algorithmic imagery that we gain the ability to see beyond our own visual limits. This expansion of perception allows us to step beyond a human-centric viewpoint to embrace wavelengths visible to machines and other species. One of the most vivid examples of this post-optic or algorithmic realm is the use of digital infrared technology. It transcodes invisible data into our visible world, expanding our visual territory. In contexts such as military strategies and facial recognition, digital infrared serves not only to make the invisible visible but also to guide decision-making processes, silently participating in the invisible conversation that shapes our world. The memetic relationship of the optical world doesn’t exist in the postoptic; the relationship between the real world and its representation is constantly shaped by data and algorithmic processes. Digital infrared and ultraviolet images act as conduits, offering us reinterpretations of an unseen universe.
The post-optic invites us to expand our parameters of normality and opens doors to the extrasensory. It can contribute to a shared and interconnected reality that fosters interactions between all entities - be they machines, humans or other entities.
Installation views: “Close Encounters ” Marlborough Gallery., Madrid, 2023, Photo Credit: Fotogasull. Courtesy of Marlborough Gallery
The exhibit opened on November the 30th, where Martine Stig traveled to Barcelona to attend the opening at Galería Marlborough between November 28th and December 3rd, 2023. The exhibit will conclude on February 10th, 2024.
For more information, please visit the Galería Marlborough website.
