Research Catalogue

In this essay I describe two projects within the field of visual art. Both works are examples of how the workflow techniques of digital photography can be modified in order to produce artworks that take on a distinct physicality and objecthood, and, as such, may form a spatial and/or haptic relation with the viewer. I discuss how such an approach relates to the ability of photography to point beyond the physical situation of viewing due to the particular virtuality of the photograph. By relating my work to the ideas of Vilém Flusser and Roland Barthes, recent theory on photography and photographic indexicality, as well as contemporary artistic work, I speculate here on how my own work illuminates perceptions of the photograph and understandings of the role of photography in today’s media culture and economy.

Teleportation is an artistc research Ph.d project at The Art Academy at The Art Academy - Institute for Contemporary Art at the Faculty for Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, Norway. The project is focused on photography and installation and has spanned over four iterations: three exhibitions, and a final presentation. Through field trips and exhibitions, Erik Friis Reitan has explored how photography relates to absence and presence, and how such an exploration can be used to make immersive installations. As the project has developed, the installations themselves and in particular their evasiveness as absent or past events, has become a topic for Friis Reitan´s artistic research. Teleportation er et doktorgradsprosjekt innen kunstnerisk utviklingsarbeid ved Kunstakademiet - Institutt for Samtidskunst ved Fakultet for Kunst, Musikk og Design, Universitetet i Bergen. Prosjektet fokuserer på fotografi og installasjon, og har vært publisert gjennom fire ulike presentasjoner: tre utstillinger og en avsluttende presentasjon. Gjennom feltarbeid og utstillinger har Erik Friis Reitan utforsket hvordan fotografi forholder seg til fravær og tilstedeværelse, og hvordan en slik utforskning kan danne grunnlag for immersive installasjoner. Ettersom prosjektet har utviklet seg har installasjonene selv, og spesielt deres forgjengelighet som fortidige hendelser, blitt et tema for Friis Reitans prosjekt.