Peter Weibel

The two cameras in the installation Meta-Photographie [Meta-Photography] have a focus trap, a mechanism that automatically takes a picture at a certain focus that can be variably adjusted. As soon as you pass one of these »focal points,« you activate the camera’s shutter release. You will hear the sound of a shutter, but a shot will not be taken. Instead, the camera’s signal triggers a speech recording via a microphone in the computer and the camera starts talking about the word »auto« (Greek for »self«): Beginning with the automatic release mechanism, the camera talks about the mechanical, apparatus-based, automatic, and autonomous parts of photographic technology. The installation interrogates the relationship between human and machine in the spectrum of self-reliance, from autonomy to the automation: from the self-photographing camera in the digital age to the self-driving car of the near future.