Cyprien Gaillard, Retinal Rivalry
Curated by Samuele Piazza

FREE ENTRANCE

From 30 October 2024 to 02 February 2025 | Binario 1, OGR Torino

OPENING HOURS
Thursday and Friday, 6 – 10 PM
Saturday and Sunday, 10 AM – 8 PM

EXHIBITION CLOSED
Friday 17 January / Saturday 18 January

FREE GUIDED TOURS - in italian -
Curated by Arteco
upon reservation
Sunday 19 January | 6 PM
Sunday 26 January | 6 PM
Saturday 1 February | 6 PM
Sunday 2 February | 6 PM

OGR Torino presents Retinal Rivalry, a solo exhibition by Cyprien Gaillard, curated by Samuele Piazza.

The work is commissioned by OGR Torino and co-produced by OGR Torino, Fondation Beyeler, Haus der Kunst München, the French Ministry of Culture, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Sprüth Magers, and Gladstone Gallery.

At the heart of the installation is Gaillard’s eponymous video work, which continues his exploration of the potential of stereoscopy, a journey that began with Nightlife (2015).

Employing 3D cinematography and cutting-edge filming shot in 120 FPS and projected in 4K, Retinal Rivalry is simultaneously a spiritual and concrete journey through Germany’s built environment.

It moves from Oktoberfest to Roman ruins encased in a 1970s parking lot under Cologne Cathedral, from a Burger King inside a former electric substation for the Nazi rally grounds in Nuremberg to the tourist infrastructure crossing the romantic landscape of Bastei, renowned for its views immortalized by painter Caspar David Friedrich, to a statue of Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Orlande de Lassus—now a makeshift memorial dedicated to Michael Jackson in Munich—and a Japanese netsuke depicting a 17th-century Dutch tradesman.

Between deep, void-like visions and sculptural recreation, Retinal Rivalry extends beyond the screen, merging into the exhibition space and altering one’s perception of the world. Gaillard guides the spectator's gaze through urban landscapes, where overlooked, secondary details take center stage and everyday elements are suddenly reinterpreted.

Accompanying the images and their sense of estrangement is a meticulously crafted soundtrack, arranged by Gaillard and collaged from a variety of sources, including Javanese music, field recordings from the UNESCO archives, and a small organ found on the streets of Weimar commemorating Johann Sebastian Bach, played with a broken leg.

Stereoscopy has often been dismissed as mere spectacle and used as an "ancillary" technique for commercial interests, but Gaillard restores the medium to its true potential, emphasizing its sculptural, spectral, and psychedelic qualities. In Retinal Rivalry, traditional narrative is abandoned in favor of pure vision. Sergei Eisenstein thought of stereoscopic cinema as “sucking in” the viewer, engulfing and penetrating them, responding to deeper needs, and creating unity by throwing a bridge across the gulf between spectator and the world on screen.