Zihan Karim

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Eye, 2015

Installation with video projection

8:00

The audiovisual installation Eye (2015) taps into the vital role of the ‘eye’ in sensing the phenomenological world and witnessing all its changes and ruination. Referencing the cross-cultural symbolism of the omnipresent eye(s), ranging from the seven-eyed prophet Zechariah from the New Testament and the Quran, to the four-eyed ancient inventor of Chinese characters Cangjie, Karim’s work harnesses its mythical power to seek and project the truth. Part of the recording of Eye was set against the mass protest in his home city of Chittagong, Bangladesh, against the proposed demolition of the CRB park in 2021. Urged to archive the rich ecosystem of this beloved public park, warmly coined ‘the oxygen of Chittagong’ by locals, the artist held an ultra-wide lens camera while frolicking through the park. Beginning with a bucolic scene of nature, the landscape slowly devolves into decay. By projecting the moving image onto a convex spherical surface, effectively turning it into the shape of an eyeball, the artist yet denies it an eyelid, dooming the eye to look on as the world falls to pieces.

Zihan Karim (b. 1986) is a multidisciplinary artist from Chittagong, Bangladesh. Zihan Karim’s work often weaves together social happenings in civic life and political chronologies through archival modes, interdisciplinary thought, and processes of montage. Karim has participated in exhibitions internationally including the Dhaka Art Summit, International Short Film Festival, Bangladesh Asian Art Biennale, the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial 2014, and more.