With recourse to digital imaging technology, a record was made of the process of decomposition of a photographic negative (of a fish) when subjected to bacteria. In this process, pigments were produced as waste and rendered in visual form as a pictorial outcome. The microscopic recordings form the point of departure for the video piece.
Bacterial attack induces premature decay and loss in the black-and-white negative, while the microbes produce pigments as a byproduct of their metabolic processes. With the aid of digital imaging technology, the process of decomposition, the various stages of decay and destruction, are translated into visual form and recorded. The emphasis is on the artistic exploitation of organic processes of dissolution – not on the destructive aspect, but the creative power.
Project was supported by Prof. Dr. Krumbein, Department of Microbiology, University of Oldenburg. The piece was later presented as a one-channel video at the Pixeldance-festival at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki 2004.
