IN CAMERA

A large Super 8 Camera suspended in space may be a minor spectacle, but peering through the viewfinder reveals more.

Inside the camera there is a 3-dimensional forest scene, in which the viewer can see their subject, a companion placed somewhere in front of the camera lens.

When a phone is placed in the cradle inside the camera and the hand crank is turned, it can track through the scenery and record their subject further immersed in the miniature scene.

EXTERIOR (Dude included for scale)

INTERIOR

This project was fabricated by Eric at Futureworks Makerspace in Brooklyn, NY. It was selected as part of their 2023 Artist in Residency program and was installed in MakerPark on Staten Island.

The interactive concept is inspired by the muliplane camera pioneered by the Walt Disney Company for their production of “Snow White” (1937).

A very basic prototype was constructed from cardboard as a proof-of-concept for the movement, but also to determine a reasonable scale to work with.

After looking at many different cameras for inspiration, the shape is primarily inspired by a Fisher Price movie viewer (sans cartridge) with half of a Barrel of Monkeys stuck on the front (instead of its classic yellow film cartridge).