Made of Pixels
Year of Creation:
2024
Media:
Digital Camera, Camera Stand
Dimensions:
Variable
Interaction Type:
Perceptual Loop
Duration:
On-Demand / Viewer-Activated
Description:
A simple yet confrontational gesture: place your hand under the lens of a digital camera and see it rendered on the screen. The camera does not manipulate the image—it merely reveals it in pixel form, as all digital images are. The work draws attention to this act of translation: a hand becomes an image, and in doing so, becomes something else. The viewer is invited to question whether this representation is a true reflection of the real, or a mediated abstraction that alters their relationship to the body.
Core Question:
Is a digital representation an extension of the body, or a flattening of it?
Loop Analysis
Structure:
Perceptual Loop
Definition:
A system where user perception is both input and output, forming a closed circuit of awareness.
Leverage Point:
Attention is drawn not to an altered image, but to the fact of image-ness itself.
Inputs / Outputs:
Hand (object) → digital capture → real-time screen display → perceptual recognition of transformation
Effect:
Subtle dissonance between what is seen and what is embodied
Ethical Valence:
Neutral but revealing—underscores how seamlessly digital mediation obscures itself
Design Note:
The lack of manipulation is the point. The viewer must reconcile the apparent neutrality of digital vision with its ontological difference from direct perception.
