ABSTRACT Ever since photography has been invented, it has been used as an instrument to extend the limits of our ability to observe. The technological development of the photographic apparatus thus has a decisive influence on our perception. Building Splicer is a reaction to Erwin Panofsky’s claim from Perspective as a Symbolic Form (1927), that “a perspective is a representation of a perceptual scheme of an epoch”. Splicer is an applied research project investigating a new type of photographic apparatus, which enables the exploration of post-rectilinear perspective. Functioning as a visual sampler, which builds new visual matter from existing physical objects, Splicer addresses fluctuating representations of reality and the increasingly computational nature of photography. The project is work in progress.

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In «Perspective as Symbolic Form», Erwin Panofsky describes the perspective as a representation of a perceptual scheme of an epoch. Linear perspective has been around since 14th century renaissance. In the meantime, digital technologies have introduced new forms of representation and representation techniques. These developments have challenged traditional notions of perspective and representation and continue to shape our understanding of the world and how we represent it.

Over the last years our cameras have become computationally enabled. Today’s photographic apparatus are much more than just devices for capturing light and producing images. They incorporate complex computational processes that filter, transform, compare, reconstruct, and interpolate the data they collect in order to produce the images that we see. This has led to a situation where the images we see are no longer simply a direct translation of the physical world, but are instead the result of a complex interplay of technical, cultural, and social factors. The global network of development, supply, and production of computing and camera devices shapes our common perception of the world.

This shift raises important questions about the accuracy, reliability, and veracity of images, and the ways in which they may shape our beliefs and understanding of the world. As such, it is becoming increasingly important to be aware of the ways in which the images we see are produced and the factors that influence them, in order to better understand and critically evaluate the representations of the world that we encounter.

Over the last years and as a reaction to these developments, I have been imagining, prototyping and building «splicer». Building my own imaging device, can be seen as a political act of taking back control over the representation of my surroundings. Rather than relying solely on commercially available products that may have their own biases, limitations, and constraints. I learn the involved technologies, source surplus parts and build my own device. By doing this, I am taking an active role to photograph the world closer to a way in which I perceive, experience and understand the world around me.

Splicer is a new photographic apparatus that goes beyond rectilinear perspective, and enables me to explore new possibilities for representing and understanding the world. Splicer is a visual sampler and creates new visual matter from already known physical objects. Splicer takes post-rectilinear (or non-linear photographs) both in the dimensions of space and time. Creating new visual matter trough sampling elements from different sources opens up the potential for a more dynamic and flexible form of representation and indexicality, that may respond to the complexities and multiplicities of the world around us.

2018 – ongoing, work in progress
Slitscan, custom CNC controlled photographic sampler