Private Project

Ocular (see-sick)

While the eyes are traditionally the "windows to the soul," modern life has turned the gaze into something fraught with tension—a social taboo or a data point for surveillance. Ocular (see-sick) is a black-and-white vignette that explores the lost art of human connection in a selfie-obsessed, device-affixed century. By isolating a singular eye against an unsteady, ambient voyage on the ocean, the film creates a jarring fusion of microscopic intimacy and oceanic largess.

This isolated gaze invites assumptions of fear, judgment, and the ever-present "Big Brother," challenging the viewer to confront the discomfort of being watched. In a world where we are often oblivious to the gaze of others, the film serves as a spectral reminder of our shared, yet drifting, humanity. No matter where you look, someone—or something—may be looking back. Keep looking...

  • TJ Norris
    Director
  • Steve Brand
    Score
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 14 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    300 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - TJ Norris

TJ Norris is an award-winning multidisciplinary conceptual artist and filmmaker based in Fort Worth, TX. His practice functions as a synesthetic bridge between clinical observation and allegorical dreamscape, rooted in the rigorous experimental traditions of the Massachusetts College of Art & Design and the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. For over three decades, Norris has operated as a "collector of chaos," scavenging the urban landscape for the "otherness" that exists within the friction of the built environment, social stigmas, and the evolving disconnect between humankind and technology.

While his work spans photography and installation, Norris’ cinematic trajectory is defined by a focused interrogation of identity and transience. His early short, 'auto-porto-matic', debuted at DCTV’s Film Fest (1993, NYC) in a program curated by Cheryl Dunye, marking the beginning of a lifelong exploration into the "exquisite corpse" of social structures. This path toward immersive media culminated in the ambitious 72-minute, 2-channel installation 'Infinitus' (2008). The project, which challenged perceptions of temporal and physical space, was awarded the Couture Grant by the New American Art Union (Oregon).

Norris’ lens is informed by an extensive curatorial career (1990s–2013), during which he brought groundbreaking exhibitions to institutions such as Tufts University, Boise State, and his own space, Soundvision. This deep understanding of visual dialogue has seen his own work exhibited globally, from the Tacoma Art Museum’s 10th Northwest Biennial and CoCA Seattle to Millepiani (Rome) and the A4 Art Museum (Chengdu, China).

Following the 2018 publication of his photographic monograph, Shooting Blanks, Norris has turned his attention to the "pixelated Wild West" of our post-pandemic reality. His current masterwork, 'Elemental Studies' (2023–25), serves as a definitive synthesis of his career—a 12-part monochrome meditation that utilizes wabi-sabi aesthetics and avant-garde collaboration to witness a planet in flux.

His work is held in prestigious international and domestic collections, reflecting his impact on contemporary conceptual art: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Vanhaerents Art Collection (Brussels), Harvard University, Museum de la Cuidad, Fuller Museum of Art, Nike, Regional Arts & Culture Council (Visual Chronicle)

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Director Statement

The film thrives within a sharp tension between the microscopic anatomy of the human eye and the infinite expanse of the ocean, effectively blurring the lines between biology and geography. By magnifying the eye until the lashes resemble beach grass and the iris transforms into a topographical map of craters and currents, the visual narrative rejects the sterile, stabilized perfection of contemporary digital art. Here, the eye is not just an organ of sight, but a liminal threshold—the ancient "window to the soul" reimagined as a fragile porthole facing an encroaching tide.

This "maker’s eye" creates a meta-narrative where the creator watches their creation, yet the sheer largess of the sea threatens to swallow the observer whole. The eye becomes a vessel of the internal spirit, straining to maintain its light against the drowning weight of the world. The "unsteady" handheld camera adopts the breathing, flawed perspective of a witness struggling to find their footing; it is the visual manifestation of a soul in flux, turning the act of looking into a mystery that resists being categorized.

Complementing this visual instability, Steve Brand’s deep-atmosphere score functions as the film’s subconscious, bridging the gap between the internal psyche and the external abyss. The soundscape mimics the visceral hum of blood rushing in the ears—the very rhythm of life—and the low-frequency vibration of the deep sea, providing a "soul" for the isolated eye in a space where identity has been erased. In an era of surveillance and micro-content, this slow, ambient voyage serves as an act of creative rebellion. It presents a haunting invitation to "keep looking," forcing a confrontation with the disconnect between the self and its reflection, ultimately transforming a singular gaze into a profound site of both spiritual intimacy and cosmic voyeurism.