by Adela Lovric // Dec. 12, 2024
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Arthur C. Clarke famously penned. Magic is precisely the word to describe the phantasmagoric effect Cyprien Gaillard conjures in his new stereoscopic work, ‘Retinal Rivalry’ (2024). Now on view in a large industrial hall at OGR Torino—the site originally intended for its colossal presentation on a custom-made screen—the 30-minute video first premiered earlier this year as part of the group exhibition ‘Summer Is Over’ at the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland.
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ 2024, installation view at OGR Torino // Photo by Andrea Rossetti for OGR Torino
‘Retinal Rivalry’ employs 3D cinematography and cutting-edge filming at 120 frames per second—five times the cinematic gold standard—which makes for a challenging viewing experience. When technological novelties like this enter the art world (in this case, previously used only twice in Hollywood productions), a question routinely comes up: is it a meaningfully utilized innovation, or merely a flashy gimmick distracting from the work’s artistic essence, or worse, masking its absence?
Exhibition curator Samuele Piazza rejects this skepticism, touting it as “the best cinema you’ll see in Europe.” He credits this not only to the hyperreal presentation and striking detail but also to the artist’s ability to unlock the medium’s sculptural, spectral and psychedelic dimensions. “Since the eyes receive way more information than they can process, they don’t have to fill in the gaps,” he explains. “The brain, instead, is seeing the real thing.” However, this sensory surplus comes with a cost, as viewers’ eyes require substantial time to adjust before the experience fully registers.
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ 2024, installation view at OGR Torino // Photo by Andrea Rossetti for OGR Torino
On the production side, the high costs of creating and projecting such a cinematic piece are not easy to justify, especially in the art world. What makes it special, therefore, is that video art is being granted the kind of lavish treatment typically reserved for commercially-driven Hollywood blockbusters that hinge, to a large extent, on the value of spectacle. This meshes well with Gaillard’s artistic approach of elevating the mundane, the obscure and the overlooked into something extraordinary and worthy of reverence.
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ 2024, installation view at OGR Torino // Photo by Andrea Rossetti for OGR Torino
As an avid flâneur, Gaillard often captures scenes from his walks on camera. For ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ he turned his lens to Germany, where he is based, transforming his observations into an artwork that prods beneath the surface of mere images of public spaces. By strategically choosing locations and filming them in ways that heighten visual estrangement, he creates a sense of disorientation and depth, eliciting open-ended interpretations. This disjointed mood is amplified with an eerie soundtrack that collages Javanese music, field recordings from UNESCO archives and Bach’s work played on a small interactive organ in Weimar’s Market Square, among other sonic fragments.
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ 2024, video still // © Cyprien Gaillard, Courtesy the artist, Sprüth Magers and Gladstone Gallery
In this sculptural cinematic work, Gaillard trains his lens not on Munich’s statue of Orlando di Lasso, but on the makeshift memorial to Michael Jackson created by fans atop it. Rather than capturing the imposing grandeur of Cologne Cathedral, he focuses on the Roman ruins entombed in a parking lot beneath it. In Berlin’s Mauerpark, a wall plastered with graffiti and posters is filmed close-up, rendering it almost indiscernible. The infamously debaucherous Oktoberfest is captured through a keyhole-like perspective with a camera placed inside a public sculpture overlooking the site, magnifying its toxic frenzy.
The most unsettling footage is of a Burger King housed within a former electric substation in Nuremberg used for the Nazi rally grounds, where remnants of Nazi iconography remain visible on the wall. Filmed from a low vantage point—recalling an image of a rat prowling through the nearby littered shrub—the scene provokes moral and visceral disgust. Through layered visual strategies, Gaillard draws attention to the strata of history embedded in these sites, which yields allusions to Western civilization as a bizarre, monstrous creation lurking beneath a familiar facade.
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ 2024, video still // © Cyprien Gaillard, Courtesy the artist, Sprüth Magers and Gladstone Gallery
‘Retinal Rivalry’ echoes Gene Youngblood’s theory that expanded cinema is essential for fostering a new consciousness—a notion that feels especially urgent in an age saturated with screens and the relentless, indiscriminate consumption of information. Protruding into the space between the screen and the spectators when viewed through 3D glasses, the video compels an unaccustomed effort of visual perception. It also requires from the viewers that they actively complete its associative image sequences through their own mental filters, turning passive observation into a participatory act of meaning-making.
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry,’ 2024, video still // © Cyprien Gaillard, Courtesy the artist, Sprüth Magers and Gladstone Gallery
On another level, it reflects the everyday surreality of life in Germany and much of Europe, where common sense appears increasingly clouded, leaving far too many unable to see the forest for the trees. The collectively experienced cognitive dissonance is mirrored in the film’s visual logic—layered, fragmented and unresolved, pleading for deeper attention and (self-)awareness.
Exhibition Info
OGR Torino
Cyprien Gaillard: ‘Retinal Rivalry’
Exhibition: Oct. 30, 2024-Feb. 2, 2025
ogrtorino.it
Corso Castelfidardo 22, 10128 Torino, Italy, click here for map
