Dust
Camera

The Dust Camera⁽²⁰²⁰⁾ makes air pollution visible. The Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig, uses both complex and simple filter systems to measure the soot pollution in the air. A very simple but effective technique they use is, a special cotton, through which is pumped a large volume of the atmosphere. Depending on the exposure and place, the cotton filter is impregnated   with dark stains. On this method the dust camera is based: made out of steal, wood and a special white filter cotton—F9 material which is used for protective masks. A strong ventilator pulls the air through the stretched cotton canvas.
        I positioned my machine in different locations and for a while let it “breathe in” the air. After a long exposure, the white cotton filter had dust stains and a "dust picture” was left behind.
       When comparing scientific and artistic measuring methods, questions arise about the functionality and accuracy of the devices used and the meaningfulness of the visual results. The contextual dependency and formability of apparently objective recording methods in different disciplines can thus be reflected.

„…Dust, for example. Tiny traces are inscribed in the crime novel, the dust cloud that shows the approach of a rider is a semi-forgotten dramatic picture, dust hovers in space. The dust is the cipher of death and transience, it describes the battlefield where the heroes are "stuck in the dust". It can stand for a great, undisturbed silence, and in the end for the decayed and precious normality of our everyday life…“—from: ‘Staub’, Joachim Kalka, 2019

Dust Picture
08.01.20, 09:01—19:00
48°46’37.8”N 9°14’07.7”E
Stuttgart Wangen, DE

Dust Picture
31.01.20, 11:03—18:00
50°05’36.1”N 8°46’11.7”E
Atelier Wäscherei,
Offenbach am Main, DE

#Makingcrisesvisible, exhibition in Senkenberg Museum, Frankfurt am Main.