Ilona Sagar's 'Haptic Skins of a Glass Eye' Explores Technology and the Body Through Video, Sculpture, and Performance

Ilona Sagar's exhibition, 'Haptic Skins of a Glass Eye,' delves into the interplay between modern bodies and technology. Central to the show is a 2015 video that showcases close-ups of bodies, eyes, and glass, paired with a fragmented voiceover that hints at a conversation between users and their tools. The work draws on the 'glass delusion,' a historical condition from the 15th to 17th centuries where people feared they were made of glass, coinciding with the rise of Cristallo glass perfection. In this context, glass serves as a viewing medium, while modernist architecture utilized it for its transparency. Sagar's portrayal presents glass as distorted and flexible. The installation also features sculptures by Jochen Holz, a paper scan of body parts, and actors reenacting recorded interviews. An online exclusive was released on 3 December 2015.