The Glittering Eye by Courtney Asztalos & Michael W. Hicks

*written about by Miss Rosen for Huck

The Glittering Eye takes place on a cruise ship, an engineered parallel world that exists to serve the bodies and desires of its guests. While aboard, cracks in the veneer of the cruise simulated reality began to emerge—failure to dock at a destination port due to dangerous winds and seas, bizarre occurrences of flooding in staterooms. A strange fog descended and settled for twenty-four hours, suspending the ship at sea. The undercurrent of anxiety became increasingly palpable amidst the cruise’s atmosphere of privilege. The images created during our collaboration cast travelers and employees along with people at different ports as performers in the unfolding theater of the ship.

Collaboratively we act as casting directors and location scouts. In both of our practices, we share an enthusiasm for working with the raw material of everyday life by photographing in distinctly American spaces such as casinos and hotels. This process of working in real-time allows for chance encounters and performances of people and places to amplify the cinematic and mysterious.

Text by Courtney Asztalos, Michael W. Hicks & Lucy Mulroney

7 x 8.5" softcover, offset
48 pages, 40 plates
First Edition, limited edition to 250 copies
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