A portrait, or the two-dimensional representation of the face of a person, is often used for identification.The picture, which has been created in a moment, crystallizes, as forms change in the course of time, and takes shape in another matter. It may be made of pigments or glue-water colour or silver bromide crystals, it may be static or composed of restlessly moving pixels, it may be projected on a screen or painted or engraved or printed on some material - the picture, associated with a number, a signature, and/or a code on a magnetic bar, seems to give proof of our existence.
"I am representable, therefore I am"
"Touch me" is an interactive video/computer installation. "Touch me" is a sort of magic mirror, where the picture reveals itself like a thin unseizable skin. The attempt to grasp the identity of others by touching the picture sets off a process where this image disappears and the viewer is confronted with his own picture.
(touch it)
In this installation, a monitor with touch screen, a video camera and a PC are mounted on a platform. From outside, only the monitor and the touch screen are visible. The visitor is welcomed by pictures of a video portrait of the artist, which are shown on the monitor. The camera takes shots of the visitor while he is looking at the pictures on the monitor. If he touches some parts of the face on the monitor, these parts dissolve and inside of the portrait, the face of the viewer will become partly or fully visible.
(Frankfurt 1995)
The installation has been realised with the support of the INM Frankfurt; technical assistance and programming by Nico Reichelt, lots of help from Tobias Kirchhofer.
// Alba D'Urbano
//
Main;
Archive() {
Esposizione Impraticabile();
Mare();
The Negated Room();
Hautnah;
Touch Me;
Stoffwechsel;
Il Sarto Immortale();
Net-Works();
History();
Imprint;