Split Diopter 2

Why It Matters

The project bridges fine art and cinema, showing how a technical camera trick can become a critical lens for contemporary visual discourse, and signals a new curatorial model that treats gallery space as a distributed film set.

Key Takeaways

• Exhibition explores split diopter as metaphor for visual flattening
• Features works by Barth, Brannon, Divola, Israel, Jones, El Kholti
• Includes commissioned soundtrack by Eyvind Kang and split‑diopter dance piece
• Curators Tumlir and Monahan frame gallery as distributed cinematic system

Pulse Analysis

The split diopter, originally invented to keep both near and far subjects sharp in a single frame, has long been a niche tool for stylized filmmaking. By foregrounding its visual seam, the "Split Diopter 2" exhibition reframes the device as a metaphor for the paradox of modern image saturation—where unprecedented clarity can also flatten perception. This conceptual pivot invites viewers to consider what is lost when every detail is rendered visible, echoing broader debates in visual culture about depth, focus, and the politics of seeing.

Curators Jan Tumlir and Reza Monahan treat the SCI‑Arc gallery as a modular cinematic set, assigning each element of the "waking dream"—still frames, action sequences, mise‑en‑scène, soundtrack, film reel, and promotional poster—to a distinct artwork. The roster, featuring Uta Barth’s perceptual investigations and Alex Israel’s media‑rich installations, creates a layered narrative that is re‑stitched by the documentary’s camera movement. Eyvind Kang’s original score and Brian Golden’s split‑diopter dance further blur the boundaries between performance, film, and exhibition, delivering a multisensory experience that feels both fragmented and cohesive.

Beyond its artistic ambition, the project signals a shift in how institutions might present interdisciplinary work. By using a technical lens as a curatorial framework, the exhibition challenges traditional museum hierarchies and proposes a fluid, film‑like visitor journey. This approach resonates with collectors, architects, and cultural programmers seeking innovative ways to engage audiences accustomed to on‑demand visual media. As museums grapple with digital overload, "Split Diopter 2" offers a compelling blueprint for turning technical constraints into conceptual strengths, potentially shaping future exhibition design.

Original Description

“Split Diopter 2" is a documentary centered on the exhibition curated by Jan Tumlir and Reza Monahan, presented at the SCI-Arc Gallery in the summer of 2025. A sequel to “Split Diopter,” this iteration takes as its point of departure the cinematic device known as the split diopter, akin to bifocal glasses for the camera, in which a supplementary half-lens allows one side of the image to focus on a nearby object while the other is trained on something farther away, producing an image that is simultaneously shallow and deep, often marked by a visible seam.

Originally developed to maintain sharpness across varying depths, the split diopter now serves as a conceptual lens through which the exhibition reflects on the flattening of vision in an era of total image clarity, where its former limitations become a poetic means to reconsider resolution and what may be lost within today’s fully visible fields.

The documentary explores the relationship between fine art and cinema through the structure of the exhibition, which disassembles the cinematic apparatus of the “waking dream” into component parts: still frame, action sequence, mise-en-scène, soundtrack, film reel, promotional poster. Each element is assigned to an individual work, and as the camera moves through the gallery, these fragments are reassembled into a continuous cinematic experience.

Works by Uta Barth, Matthew Brannon, John Divola, Alex Israel, William E. Jones, and Hedi El Kholti form the core of the exhibition, accompanied by a commissioned soundtrack by Eyvind Kang. The exhibition also incorporates a dance work shot with a split diopter lens, choreographed by Brian Golden and performed by Jas Lin, Madison Ostrach, and Euseon Song, as well as a film featuring contributions from Stan Douglas, Lynne Marsh, Patti Podesta, Jeffrey Stuker, and Liam Young.

Jan Tumlir is an art writer, educator, and curator whose work has shaped critical discourse around contemporary art through decades of writing, teaching, and publishing. Reza Monahan is an artist and filmmaker whose practice spans hundreds of films and installations, exploring the intersection of language and cinema through time-and-space–based projects, in collaboration with leading cultural institutions across art, architecture, and experimental film.

Together, their curatorial approach frames the exhibition as a distributed cinematic system, which the documentary gathers into a singular, immersive experience.

Crew Credits –

Production:

SCI-Arc Channel Executive Producers - Winka Dubbeldam/Reza Monahan

SCI-Arc Channel Creative Director - William Virgil

Director of Photography - H. Walker Sayen

B Cameras - Tyler Denering / Carlos Bonachea

Swing Techs - Manush Koshy / Sharath Senthil

Post-Production:

Editors - Cal Crawford/Reza Monahan

Soundtrack by Eyvind Kang

Additional Video and Images Provided by Jan Tumlir and Reza Monahan

"Untitled (Marienbad 2)" by Hedi El Kholti

©2026 SCI-Arc Channel