Erin Sweeney

Artist Catalogue

Virtual Exhibition

looking within and looking without

looking within and looking without is a body of work made up of many parts. Each element considers different ways of looking and being seen. in the room includes 20 photos of bedrooms, each one taken over 48 hours, are presented in their own individual peephole boxes. watch your back, a live feed of the room projected onto the back wall that only allows people to watch the back of their bodies as they move through the space. love at first sight, which is a collection of film stills from romantic films, focusing on the lovers’ eyes the first time they look at each other. And Smile! A photobooth that only gives participants blurry photographs.

These pieces are an attempt at making viewers more conscious of looking and how they think about being seen. How we look at others, how we look at ourselves? What do we do when we want to be seen? When no one is around, do we practice being seen?

looking within and looking without also examines how the technology of photography interacts with these questions. How do we change ourselves when we know there is a camera watching? What do we expect from a photograph? Why do we believe that photographs are objects that hold truth, truthful versions of ourselves?

Overall, it’s about looking and the impossibility of seeing.

Erin Sweeney

@sweerin