‘Just a snapshot’
Info
This work was exhibited 07/2010 in London
“Just a snapshot” is an interactive installation which invites the viewer to undergo the act of photography. It provokes, in a viewer, an awareness of the motivation and the impact of a shoot and being shot. The work refers to Ernst Jünger comparison of a gun and a camera, shooting and taking pictures. People are surprised and scared at the same time.
The artwork is an interactive installation that consists of a black room 2.5m qubic, which can be entered. Inside the room, it is almost dark; one can still see a wooden board in the middle of the room. The back wall has two holes in the fabrics, where the camera lens and the flash are hidden.
The technical set-up is as follows: the first interface between the person and the camera is the touch sensor located underneath the wooden board on the floor in the middle of the room. The person enters the room and is expected to intuitively step on the board since there is nothing else to find. Thus, the sensor becomes activated; the signal goes through the computer and tells the flash software to play the sound, which is the gunshot that then comes out of the speakers situated in the room. The gunshot is captured by a sound sensor on a micro controller, which is connected to a digital photo camera, and is triggered by it, thereby simultaneously activating two flashes. The image of the person who stepped on the sensor is made, and it goes back to the computer, where special software sends it to the projector. The taken image is showcased on the front wall outside, which is camouflaged with black fabric so the output is not directly recognisable as a projection due to the surface quality. Thus the projection looks like it is printed on the fabric. The image remains until the next input – that is, until the next person is captured. The projector itself is hidden under a table covered with black fabric so people standing outside or those who have just come out are uncertain about where the image comes from. People should enter the box one by one so the sense of unpredictability, suddenness and surprise remains secure for the visitor.
Valeria Meng
http://www.valeriameng.com
