Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Using a specially designed pinhole camera, one conceptual artist and philosopher plans to track changes to the Arizona skyline over the next 1,000 years – a project that officially got underway on Friday with the unveiling of the so-called Millennium Camera.
Jonathon Keats, the man behind the Millennium Camera, installed the device on the third-level terrace at the Arizona State University Art Museum, and according to Discovery News, it will be capturing a millennium-long image of the evolving Tucson, Arizona skyline.
The project, the website explains, is “literally an exponential expansion” of the Century Camera, a previous initiative of Keats’ which involved the placement of cameras designed to record 100-year exposures in Berlin at various locations throughout the world. The goal of both projects is to create awareness of environmental issues and the impact our choices will have on the future.
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The devices, which were designed by Keats himself, are said to be based on but more durable than the traditional pinhole camera. They feature a solid metal camera that uses oil paint rather than traditional film. Light enters through a pinhole in a 24-karat gold plate, and as time passes, the light fades the colored pigment and creates a positive image, according to Discovery News.
“For instance, old houses torn down after a couple centuries will show up only faintly, as if they were ghosts haunting the skyscrapers that replace them,” Keats told the website, adding that the Millennium Camera project has a slightly different focus than the Century Camera.
Photographic time capsule
“With a thousand years in view, the documentation will have less to do with urban development and will be more concerned with the changing environment. In other words, the photographs will show how our future climate transforms our terrestrial habitat,” he explained in a email.
The camera was installed during a March 6 event, and visitors to the ASU Art Museum will be able to see both the camera and the skyline it is set to record over the next 1,000 years, officials said in a statement.
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The camera in its time capsule designed to last 1,000 years. (Credit: ASU)
“The ASU Art Museum is well-positioned to bear witness to the Tempe skyline as it evolves and changes,” said ASU Art Museum Curator Garth Johnson. “The span involved in Keats’ vision is at once humbling and empowering for a forward-thinking institution like ours.”
A month-long exhibit based on the project has been scheduled for Spring 3015.
“The first people to see this picture will be children who haven’t yet been conceived. They’re impacted by every choice we make, but they’re powerless. If they can’t influence our decisions, at least they can bear witness,” Keats told ASU News.
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Following the unveiling, Keats led a hands-on workshop on building deep time cameras as part of ASU’s annual Emerge festival. During that event, he challenged the public to build a pinhole camera with a 100-year exposure to hide somewhere in the Phoenix area.
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