Jan Tumlir and Reza Monahan: Split Diopter 2

The cinematic device known as the split diopter is akin to bifocal glasses for the camera. It involves a supplementary half-lens applied over an existing one, allowing one side to focus on a nearby object while the other is trained on something farther away. This creates an image that is simultaneously shallow and deep, with an occasionally visible seam running down the middle.

In analog photography, depth of field is achieved through small apertures and long exposure times, but moving images require higher speeds to avoid blurring. The split diopter was conceived to overcome this hurdle, providing an efficient way to maintain sharpness across varying depths. Although rarely employed in current film production, this somewhat antiquated implement might now supply us with a handle, a graspable means to consider the complex dynamics of extended visualization, in contrast to the more mysterious workings of today’s technologies.

Contemporary cameras increasingly override human perception, producing evenly distributed, high-definition images where no detail escapes. Such flattening of vision is presently commonplace. The split diopter, which anticipated this trend, has fallen behind it. Yet for this reason precisely, it might now allow for reflection on the general concept of resolution in our data-driven visual economy. The technical flaws of this silver screen artifact have turned poetic, encouraging analysis and speculation on what has been lost beneath today’s wholly visible fields.

Split Diopter 2 explores the relationship between fine art and cinema, as well as the impact of technical optics on creative practice. This exhibition disassembles the cinematic apparatus of the “waking dream” into a collection of parts: still frame, action sequence, mise-en-scene, soundtrack, film reel, promotional poster, etc.—each of which is assigned to an individual work of art. Navigating this array of objects in the space of the gallery, viewers are enjoined to imagine their own filmic narrative, while also reflecting on its material means of construction.

Split Diopter 2 will feature works by artists Uta Barth, Matthew Brannon, John Divola, William E. Jones, Hedi El Kholti, and Alex Israel. An audio piece layering sounds close and far will be composed for the exhibition by Eyvind Kang. In addition, a short dance video utilizing a split diopter lens will be shot, and then also projected, in the gallery. Finally, Split Diopter 2 will include a documentary in which artists Stan Douglas, Lynne Marsh, Patti Podesta, Jeffrey Stuker, and Liam Young discuss the influence of cinema on their respective practices.

Jan Tumlir is an art-writer, teacher, and curator based in Los Angeles. He is a contributing editor of the London-based journal Effectsand a regular contributor to Artforum and Frieze. He has written catalog essays for such artists as Bas Jan Ader, Uta Barth, John Divola, Cyprien Gaillard, Jennifer Pastor, Allen Ruppersberg, and James Welling. Books include: LA Artland, a survey of contemporary art in Los Angeles co-written with Chris Kraus and Jane McFadden (2005); Hyenas Are…, a monograph on the work of Matthew Brannon (2011); The Magic Circle: On The Beatles, Pop Art, Art-Rock and Records (2015); and Conversations, produced in discussion with Jorge Pardo, published by Inventory Books (2021). Tumlir has served as a faculty member of the Fine Art and Humanities and Sciences departments at Art Center College of Design since 1999 and currently teaches art history and theory in the Liberal Arts department at SCI-Arc.

Reza Monahan is an artist and filmmaker who holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Art Center College of Design and a BFA in Experimental Film and New Genres from San Francisco Art Institute. His studio blends questions of language and cinema within time-and-space-based projects to unfold ideas surrounding kinesthetics, design and phenomenology. Having produced several hundred short documentaries and interviews on art, architecture, and related fields, Monahan’s media and filmmaking practice has taken him to cities throughout North America, partnering with institutions and journals such as NASA/JPL, LACMA, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Mike Kelley Foundation, SculptureCenter, Dezeen and many others. His work for SCI-Arc Channel has been supported by grants provided by the Getty Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Monahan’s installation art and speculative films have exhibited in galleries and venues across the globe including, UNTITLED Art Fair, Miami, ICALA, LAGE EGAL Gallery, Berlin, OR Gallery, Vancouver, Anthology Film Archives, NYC, Karma International, Zurich, Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles, MiM Gallery, Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Gallery at Chapman University. Most recently he exhibited a multimedia installation at the Yucca Valley Material Lab’s “Lazy Eye Gallery.”