All-Seeing Eye
2013, Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural da República Esplanada dos Ministérios Setor Cultural Sul, Lote 2, 70070150 Brasília / Brazil
Joanna Rajkowska's project was conceived especially for the National Museum in Brasilia. It was an ephemeral intervention on the protected UNESCO building, which was designed and built in the frame of the general plan of the Brazilian capital. The hemisphere of the museum acted as a screen for a projection prepared by the artist which was shown during two evenings, the 6th and 7th December 2013.
The title of the work refers to the idea of the power of seeing, observation and control mechanisms. It can be read as a reference to the history of the place – the ideal city of a transparent urban tissue, built for the needs of the state apparatus. A gigantic image of an eye displayed on the dome of the museum building reminds one of invisible surveillance systems. At the same time it questions the role of the museum as an institution, whose mission is to preserve visual traces of history, and in doing so – to create its vision.
The project stems from the personal experience of the artist, whose daughter was born with eye cancer. The sequence of images used in the projection shows the breakdown of the tumour inside the eyeball. Rajkowska reveals what is invisible, diseased, rejected, but shows also the difficult process of fighting the disease.
Her work is a reflection on recognizing the world in conditions of limited sight, as well as on the biological and political function of seeing. Being implemented in the architectural embodiment of the modernist utopia, it raises the question of the rationale of the existence of an error.
The title of the work refers to the idea of the power of seeing, observation and control mechanisms. It can be read as a reference to the history of the place – the ideal city of a transparent urban tissue, built for the needs of the state apparatus. A gigantic image of an eye displayed on the dome of the museum building reminds one of invisible surveillance systems. At the same time it questions the role of the museum as an institution, whose mission is to preserve visual traces of history, and in doing so – to create its vision.
The project stems from the personal experience of the artist, whose daughter was born with eye cancer. The sequence of images used in the projection shows the breakdown of the tumour inside the eyeball. Rajkowska reveals what is invisible, diseased, rejected, but shows also the difficult process of fighting the disease.
Her work is a reflection on recognizing the world in conditions of limited sight, as well as on the biological and political function of seeing. Being implemented in the architectural embodiment of the modernist utopia, it raises the question of the rationale of the existence of an error. 
Production: Open Art Projects
The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland
Partners: Museu Nacional Conjunto Cultural da República
Polish Embassy in Brazil
Secretaria de Cultura to Distrito Federal
The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Poland
Partners: Museu Nacional Conjunto Cultural da República
Polish Embassy in Brazil
Secretaria de Cultura to Distrito Federal