A. Melik Ohanian

Exhibited in 2002 for the inauguration of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Island of an Island (1999-2001) was Melik Ohanian's first major piece of work. It depicts the birth of Surtsey island which formed off the coast of Iceland after a volcanic eruption under the sea in 1963. This sliver of land, supervised by the international scientific community and closed to the public, would become an exceptional observatory for studying the emergence of life.

Melik Ohanian hasn't looked back since in his examination of our relationship with the world, with memory, time and space. He shows us his thought process through an array of media (photography, film, video and installations for example). His work is complex and demanding, infused with philosophy, science and research, and can be interpreted as a laboratory of ideas that puts forth other hypotheses. His subtle and immersive showpieces usher the onlooker into a situation “of intense phenomenological experiences”.

Stuttering is a series of photographs taken in the botanical gardens in Palermo. Displayed on a plasma screen - just like an advertising light box – each shot, taken twice with variation in the point of focus, causes a sort of visual oscillation, a quivering sensation. The "stuttering" image blurs our field of vision, conjuring up the idea of a beating heart - perhaps the very heart of nature.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES