ABSTRACT
Art practice as a means of exploration, phenomenology and ‘slow thinking’ offers key touchpoints for an essay exploring and contextualizing work by two artists, Elizabeth Hoek-Doering and Marianna Christofides. Both artists work through observation and repeated visits to sites, immersing themselves in the cultures of others and responding through photography, video and installation. Yet, I argue, both retain critical distance, exploring phenomena, researching histories, considering aesthetic strategies that invite audiences to see differently.
The essay was commissioned for the publication accompanying the two-person exhibition for the Cyprus Pavilion, Venice Biennale, 2011. As with most exhibition-related publications, the aim was to prolong impact through documentation of works included and through reflective contextualization.
