Private Eyes

Description:

Produced while in residence at Western Front, Private Eyes is a satirical video work by Lisa Steele and Kim Tomczak that investigates the growing influence of privatization on public institutions, and specifically how it affects the arts. The tape imagines a fictional scenario in which the Canadian Gallery of Art has been overtaken by corporate sponsors, transforming it into the world’s largest private gallery. 

Drawing on the tropes of detective fiction, the video probes how the concepts of “public” and “private” are understood and experienced. It questions how individuals relate to systems of control, particularly in a context where the state increasingly interferes in personal lives while simultaneously offloading its own assets and responsibilities through privatization.