When a tattoo is applied to the skin, the image changes as the ink settles into the skin; both the ink and the skin mutate over time. With a temporary tattoo station bathed in pink light, I create a corner of the gallery that is dedicated to saving screens on skin, in bubble wrap, and through other photo related methods. I invite participants to receive a temporary tattoo and engage in a conversation about capturing images.
After my father, a poet and technical writer passed away, I inherited his devices, an apple watch, phone, and ipad. I wear his apple watch without charging it or re-setting it; it has the woven texture of an analogue watch but also the capacity to contain photographs and the gestures of online actions. Even though I have backed up his data, I don’t want to wipe the devices of his arrangements yet. Through screen shooting, I save various constellations of his creative process and screen gestures. At times, the capture action (cmd+shift+4) feels like reaching out to him. I use the selective screenshot to cut out and collage parts of his work that stay with me.
Through screen shooting his digital life, I feel connected to his thinking process.
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screenshot /ˈskrēnSHät/
noun. an image of the data displayed on the screen of a computer or mobile device
synonyms. screen capture, screen grab
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Screenshooting has interconnectivity to practices beyond our devices.
Screenshooting holds relationships to
… the photographic methods of capturing time and light: from regal daguerrotype decorated with pressed flowers to sticky polaroid prints
… the collection processes of archiving life and death: from the nets of butterfly catching to the pails of shell collecting
… the replication practices of record keeping: from the inky blue images of carbon paper to the high speed, high volume mass capabilities of digital copying machines.
