deco 115v.60w.
Super 8, 3 mins, 1997
My first roll of solo hand-processed footage was an experiment in determining the impact light was having on the film stock. I used a Nizo Super 8 camera to film extreme close-ups of an antique ('30s) light bulb whose zig zag filaments were still intact. It was a fragile piece of glass to film. I shot very close, circling and twisting around it, while pulsing the trigger and switching the light on and off. The black and white footage was aggressively hand-processed “spaghetti style” whereby the 50 foot strip of super-8 film was bundled into a light-tight container full of developer and shaken around. Eight minutes later my images were born, scarred, scratched, and magical. I named it Deco 115v.60w., after the inscription on the top of the bulb. Shot February 11, 1997 at 4:20pm. I still have the bulb, and intend to refilm it on the tenth anniversary.