Alternating Vision

Reading note

In Alternating Vision, Abraham Aronovitch radicalises his reflection on the mirror by substituting it with a phoropter—a clinical instrument for optical measurement. This shift transforms the private sphere into a site of realisation: we never see ourselves with the naked eye. The work reveals that our self-perception is a “mediated vision”, a focal point previously adjusted by the multitude of those who shaped us.

The silhouettes nestled within the device’s lenses are not mere memories, but the architects of our own perception. The subject no longer seeks to correct his sight; he inhabits the focal length imposed by others. Aronovitch paints here the tension between physical presence and those memorial and social filters that dictate which parts of ourselves should be in focus and which should remain blurred. It is a portrait of consciousness as heritage, where the image of the self is inseparable from the gaze of those who inhabit us.