A small digital microscope become in your hands become a powerful tool, a kind of anthropological and at the same time personal kino-eye. Could you introduce our readers to this peculiar technique you use in your works? I bought the first C2D digital microscope camera for my son when he was a boy. It’s a toy, and I still use that first camera. I have managed to find another one but the manufacturer does not make this particular model anymore. I’ve purchase some other microscope cameras, each one results in a different image look and feel. But my favorite is still the C2D. The microscope is attached by USB to a laptop. But I removed the actual recording device, which records both still and video images, and use that as a handheld camcorder. I capture portraits of participants, and then short videos. It takes maybe 2 or 3 minutes for each session. Since it doesn’t record sound, I use a voice recorder separately. Some people ask why I don’t use a modern camera. The fact that this is a tool for science - it transforms skin, hair and eyes - is part of the message I want to send with this project. We are all the same, when you dispose of skin color, eye color, and hair color. The resulting images are washed out and blurry. I loved it from the moment I took my first photo with it. The use of the digital microscope often add an element of unpredictability to your art. Could you explain this aspect of your creative process? People who know me will say I am a control freak! My educational background was engineering and medicine, two fields that require great precision. The paintings that I created before I began working in digital media, are all quite structural with mosaics and spirals. And I actually own a small finance business working with artists. So “drawing outside the lines” has not been my way! However, because the microscope cameras - as well as the participants - are unpredictable, I learned how to give up control and let the devices control the outcome. Sometimes the images reflect random colors based on available light, or the color of clothes someone is wearing. I usually don’t retouch the images for the portrait part of the exhibition. The project has become an exercise in losing control, for me. It’s spread into other parts of my life. Also, in this project I have collaborators who help with video editing,
The I Love You Project: Hessen (August 2012)
sound recording, and music. Kendall Smith and Santina Amato have edited videos, Alex Tkachenko and Julius Schön recorded sound , and Schön composed all music weaving the voices together. In the past I have not been keen on working with other artists. Now I enjoy it immensely and it brings unexpected dimensions to the work. And I have learned to love that. We find that your art is rich of references too: for example , the use of a digital