Take a Picture F.A.Q.
What is it?
         Take a Picture is a series of invisible paintings.
Invisible Paintings? What the hell does that mean?
         To the naked eye, it looks like blank canvas is hung on the wall. But we aren't a bunch of pretentious, lazy artists who think we can get away with doing nothing. Honest! When a digital camera is aimed at the canvas, an image will appear on your cameras view screen.
What Kind of Images?
         Well, since you are taking it's picture, the canvas just might smile for you. Or wink. Or stick out it's tongue. Who knows?
When can I see it?
         During Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010, October 2nd, at Levack Block, 88 Ossington, Toronto, Ontario.
How does it work?
         Magic.
No...really..how does it work?
         Take a picture uses a frequency of light that is invisible to the human eye, but visible to digital sensors.
Does it work with any camera?
         It should work with any digital camera. Both CCD and CMOS based digicams have been tested successfully. Film cameras and Polaroids will not work with this project.
Does it look the same on every digital camera?
         Every digital camera works a little differently. Some cameras display the images with a blueish tone, some a redish tone, but most cameras we have tested so far have produced images that appear white. Some cameras show the image bright and clear, while others are more subtle. We have tested point and shoot cameras, Digital SLR's, camcorders, webcams, and cellphone cameras.
Who made these invisible paintings?
         Take a Picture is a collaborative project between Brad Blucher and Kyle Clements. We made them. And we didn't think up the idea and hire a bunch of people to build them for us. We etched the circuit boards and soldered the parts in place ourselves. We believe that fabrication is an important part of the artistic process.
Why is Brad's name always mentioned first, is he the 'main artist' on this project?
         Both Kyle and Brad agreed that to avoid potential conflict or disagreement, all artist's names should be listed alphabetically by family name for any collaborative projects. Brad has Kyle beat by one letter, so his name gets written first.
The original idea is Kyle's. The circuit design that makes the whole thing possible is Brad's. Construction was evenly split between both artists, and the write-ups were roughed out by Kyle, cleaned up by Brad, then further refined by Kevin Radigan.
This doesn't answer my question!
         Please email us with any further questions you might have, and we will try to answer them. We will either reply to you personally, or add your question to this list.
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