Jennifer Steinkamp, 1958

America-born artist Jennifer Steinkamp attended the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. While she usually positions herself artistically in terms of structuralist film theory, her work is also characterized by a strong decorative aspect. Steinkamp presents a rather mordant and sardonic synthesis of science, art, and pop culture through what she calls “artificial nature”. Digital animation allows her artistic freedom but rather than employing it as a tool, she deliberately forces the viewer to question the implications of technology for human consciousness.

“Eye Catching” was created for exhibition in the Basilica Cistern during the 8th Istanbul Biennial. Three animated trees were projected on the walls of the cistern, opposite two ancient Medusa heads that were used as column bases in the Byzantine era. In ancient Greek mythology, Medusa was originally an extraordinarily beautiful maiden. It was only when she was raped by the sea-god Poseidon that the goddess Athena, in a fit of jealousy and spite, transformed Medusa’s beautiful hair into serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn a man to stone. In “Eye Catching”, animated trees sway rhythmically while their branches move in a similar manner to Medusa’s serpentine hair. Each tree gradually progresses through the seasons: the first buds of spring are followed by the leafy foliage of summer, which turns red in the fall, before winter strips the tree bare. As the trees move through their elegant and somewhat eerie evolutions, the installation uses the ancient Medusa legend to celebrate the power of female sexuality and beauty.