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gilles massot

LaSalle College of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty Member

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Gilles’ artistic process is based on the idea of “the space between things”. Looking beyond form, his work aims to establish links between disciplines, people, occurrences and parts of the world. His book Retro Specks Future Pixs: the Book (2007) is most representative of this diversity while highlighting the underlying theme of his research on time, space and their relation in photography and painting. His first book Bintan, Phoenix of the Malay Archipelago (2003) was the first comprehensive publication on the Riau Archipelago. This venture into the fields of history and ethnology had a profound influence on his artistic work, which has since then often dealt with these disciplines while focusing on the photographic medium.

After studying architecture and graduating in photography, Gilles came to live in Singapore in 1981. His early participation to the local art scene saw him involved in a string of seminal art events. His photojournalistic work has been extensively published in various magazines, and his artistic work presented in over fifty exhibitions in France and Asia. His work is part of the collection of the Singapore Art Museum and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris among others.

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Sichuan University

New York University Shanghai

Tsinghua University

Xavier Ortells-Nicolau

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

University of Malaya, Malaysia

Emile Kok-Kheng Yeoh

Rachel Rits-Volloch

University of Cambridge

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Papers by gilles massot

Sign(e)s & Traces

Sign(e) & Traces

a visual portfolio paralleling ancient and contemporary Beijing

68 moments singapouriens pour mes 68 ans

68, 2023

Un essai photography sur la notion du "chez moi" et du déplacement. Version française.

Placing Jules Itier’s Body of Work in Perspective

The photographic work done by Jules Itier around the China Sea in 1844-45 while travelling with t... more The photographic work done by Jules Itier around the China Sea in 1844-45 while travelling with the Lagrene Mission was thought to be, up until recently, some of the earliest photographs of several Asian countries. A new round of research has established that they are indeed the earliest extant photographs of Asia, while proposing new readings of a few outstanding daguerreotypes such as the DaNang fort and the 360o panorama of Canton made-up of 14 plates. This paper looks at the longer term and theoretical implications of what we can now call a ground-breaking body of work.

History, Ethnology, Community and Art: Finding and Performing the Narrative

The White Space Conflict Theory: Understanding Photography as Energy

Symbolism 2019

The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emerge... more The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emergence of photography in human society and, in particular, in physical reality, are yet to be understood. Speaking in three voices, the trilogy ponders the nature of photography from the points of view of art history, physics, and art. Historian of photography Gaston Gabriel Marceau explores the connections between the different histories of photography and quantum mechanics. He suggests that photography is energy. Chinese physicist Professor Ma develops this proposition further with the aid of the white space theory and the concept of &quot;duplicording&quot; which refers to the action of the recording apparatus, the camera or the phonograph. In the last essay, Malay artist Gila Masok sounds an urgent Open Call to Open-minded Scientists designating a possible path of joint art-and-science investigations of a phenomenon at the heart of the more recent &quot;duplicording&quot; developments such as big data.

Jules Itier and the Lagrené Mission

History of Photography, 2015

In the 1970s, Gilbert Gimon discovered the daguerreotype work of Jules Itier and subsequently pub... more In the 1970s, Gilbert Gimon discovered the daguerreotype work of Jules Itier and subsequently published two articles: one in French in 1980 and one in English in 1981. The historical importance of this discovery is now firmly established and the two articles have become key sources of reference. However, a close study of these publications reveals mistakes and assumptions that require resolution. Part one of this article considers two phases of gathering and dispersal of this body of work, first in the mid-nineteenth century and subsequently in the twentieth century. Individuals, situations and institutions are identified in order to assist with the necessary corrections and reinterpretations. In part two, Itier’s journal and Gimon’s articles are cross-referenced in relation to new source materials in order to undertake an in-depth investigation of a number of plates presented in chronological order. This has resulted in the correction of a number of erroneous dates and statements made by Gimon. In the process, an unexpected new name in the early history of photography was revealed in relation to the earliest clearly dated photograph of India. This article concludes with a new reading of Itier’s work and its significance for the history of photography in Asia.

Bintan: phoenix of the Malay Archipelago

A comprehensive insight into the life and times of Bintan, &#39;the phoenix of the Malay Arch... more A comprehensive insight into the life and times of Bintan, &#39;the phoenix of the Malay Archipelago, an island playing a pivotal role in the past and present of the Malay Archipelago. The book was written in the course of three years of original research, and abundantly illustrated with a body of photographic work by the author, initially started as a collection of postcards initiated in 1995 by Marc Thalmann . The book was designed by the author as well, thus making this first published work by Gilles Massot a truly all-rounded artistic and academic labour of love.

Between Legend and Reality: The Bukit Batu Cemetery of the Island of Bintan, Riau Archipelago

Archipel, 2012

THE WHITE SPACE CONFLICT THEORY: UNDERSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY AS ENERGY

Symbolism - De Gruyter, 2019

The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emerge... more The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emergence of photography in human society and, in particular, in physical reality, are yet to be understood. Speaking in three voices, the trilogy ponders the nature of photography from the points of view of art history, physics, and art. Historian of photography Gaston Gabriel Marceau explores the connections between the different histories of photography and quantum mechanics. He suggests that photography is energy. Chinese physicist Professor Ma develops this proposition further with the aid of the white space theory and the concept of "duplicording" which refers to the action of the recording apparatus, the camera or the phonograph. In the last essay, Malay artist Gila Masok sounds an urgent Open Call to Open-minded Scientists designating a possible path of joint art-and-science investigations of a phenomenon at the heart of the more recent "duplicording" developments such as big data.

Whitespace Theory

Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. A speculative scientific e... more Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. A speculative scientific essay by Pr. Ma based on Gilles Massot's historical and theoretical analysis. a-Foreword The name adopted to designate this outline of a theory, Whitespace, is the result of a happy encounter between the axiom enunciated at the start of the paper proper below and a haphazard occurrence encountered while creating a cloud folder on my computer to gather this research material. I intended to create a folder with no name since the theory hadn't found one yet. However, I learned on that occasion that items in the cloud couldn't be left unidentified; they must have an IDENTITY, a name, a number, be differentiated or dissolve into neutral infinity, lost as non-existing in a dark corner of the virtual cloud. So this folder automatically took on the name White Space Conflict. Conflict there was none, I was perfectly at peace, but besides its evocative poetical touch, the name of the folder also drew instant connections with the information it was meant to contain. Most importantly, it echoed the fate of the third dimension, depth, playing the part of the untold victim in the complex transmutation of dimension and energies happening during a photo recording. The term Whitespace suddenly stood as an apt designation for the lost dimension of spatial depth and the gained eternity of the frozen moment, the vanished space that turns into still time to make a photograph. The name also presented the advantage of building its image by echoing the well-known expression "white noise" and its diverse connotations relating to society, behaviour, perception, time and space. Whitespace is thus the virtual residuum of the entropy generated by the photographic recording process. It is non quantifiable because it vanishes instantly into neutral infinity but it also nonetheless very much exists (for as long as the photograph exist) as a past probability turned to absolute stillness through the action of constant transformation. Whitespace is all these things at the same time albeit it is only perceivable by an observer as an absence: the absence of physical depth in the recording, an absence compensated by the learned appreciation of the cultural illusion created through stillness. Photographic recording has been arguably fundamental to the shaping of contemporary society. As anticipated by Massot's Constant Self-recording Mode the ever-expending usage of and fascination for pictorial quanta, along with all other forms of recording that were developed over the last century and a half, has become a form of constant ubiquitous activity that had no equivalent in the pre-recording era. And visual language has arguably become the common denominator that unifies the planet in its new form of consciousness. It is probably the ensuing constant accumulation of Whitespace in the interstices generated by the corresponding interruptions of the continuum that eventually

LA THEORIE DE L'ESPACE BLANC DU RECORDING AU DUPLICORDING

De la photographie perçue comme énergie en sciences physiques par Gilles Massot Synopsis Les troi... more De la photographie perçue comme énergie en sciences physiques par Gilles Massot Synopsis Les trois essais de cette trilogie soutiennent l'idée qu'il nous reste beaucoup à comprendre sur les implications de l'émergence de la photographie dans la société humaine, ainsi que son impact sur la réalité physique. Utilisant trois voix différentes, la trilogie examine la nature de la photographie du point de vue de l'histoire de l'art, de la physique, et de l'art. L'historien de la photographie Gaston Gabriel Marceau explore les liens entre les histoires respectives de la photographie et de la mécanique quantique. Il suggère que la photographie est énergie dans un sens de science physique. Le physicien chinois Professeur Ma développe cette proposition en formulant la Théorie de l'Espaces Blanc et le concept de "duplicording" qui se réfère à l'action des appareils d'enregistrement, tels que caméra ou phonographe. Dans le dernier essai, l'artiste malais Gila Masok lance dans l'urgence un "appel ouvert aux scientifiques à l'esprit ouvert" pour une investigation menée en commun par l'art et la science de ce concept de duplicording afin de mieux comprendre les développements les plus récents de notre société contemporaine tels que croissance exponentielle des médias d'information et des mégadonnées. Avant-propos: sur l'origine du nom Il y a un temps pour tout. Celui des semis est suivi par la récolte laquelle est suivie à son tour par le retour au sol, pour le fertiliser et nourrir la croissance d'une nouvelle graine qui renouvellera le cycle des transformations sans fin dont le récit de la vie est tissées. Si le temps est venu pour cet essai de fertiliser pour ainsi dire le sol de mon présent, alors la graine en est Time Frame, un travail de techniques mixtes réalisé en 1977 qui explorait la relation entre peinture et photographie dans leurs représentations respectives du temps et de l'espace 1. Ce travail plasticien de jeunesse fut ma première tentative formelle d'aller au-delà de l'apparence de la photographie, une méditation sur sa nature intrinsèque qui a depuis lors alimenté toutes mes explorations intellectuelles et artistiques. Cette méditation fut à son tour alimentée à son tour par une vie de voyages, riche en nombreuses rencontres fortuites avec des personnalités stimulantes telles que l'artiste malais Gila Masok. Nos débats animés sur ses expérimentations picturales avec la photographie ont conduit à notre collaboration en 1991 pour

Still Like a Humming Bird

An essay on the impact of modern technology on contemporary artistic practice written for an exhi... more

The Fate of the Investigator

a short story in which my theoretical research interest on the nature of time, space and their co... more

Whitespace Theory

Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is aud... more Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is audible time filling-up space, White Space is vanished space translated into stillness. Pr. Ma The prevalent perception of a photograph is normally restricted to its pictorial content. Its underlying nature as the result of a complex process of transfer of energies across dimensions is generally ignored. In this process the four dimensions of the continuum (x,y,z,t) are recorded and compressed as two dimensional stillness (x,y)/t°). The transmutation of a continuum moment into a self-contained object could be described with the following axiom: the space of a photograph exists in the depth of its time. Photography and its history also played a significant role in the shaping of contemporary society. The process of photographic recording initiated in the early 19 th century experienced an aptly named quantum leap when the applied quantum mechanics resulted in the production of electronic technologies that pushed its capacities to a new level. With the new century, the mobile phone and its attached camera in particular triggered an exponential increase in the production of images as well as the speed and outreach of their distribution, a phenomenon termed as Constant Self-recording Mode by the photography historian Gilles Massot in 2004 1. Today the prevalence of images in a virtual form throughout the networks of social media and Internet and the often instant impact they have on societies clearly invite us to take into account the energy by which they act on the collective subconscious rather than keep considering them as simple physical iconographic documents. The first observation above concerns the inborn nature of the photographic image from the day of its invention; the second what it has become as a result of the digital revolution. Taken together these two observations suggest the necessity to now apprehend the too familiar medium of " photography " as a brand new form of energy, and the photograph as its quantum: a precise and finite amount of energy resulting from a compression of the time-space continuum that creates a mirror image à l'identique of the original amount of energy recorded. By proposing to see the photograph as a quantum, we implement a radical change of conceptual perspective that results in the following speculative theory:

Performance in Frame

Starting with a discussion of Lee Miller portrait in Hitler's bath tube shot by David E. Scherman... more Starting with a discussion of Lee Miller portrait in Hitler's bath tube shot by David E. Scherman, this paper traces the mutually benefiting relation between photography and performance art all the way to Bayard's self portrait as a drowned man and follows it all the way in the practices of many contemporary artists.

To cut or not to paste, is that the question?

The paper first looks at the current developments in digital and computational photography to tra... more The paper first looks at the current developments in digital and computational photography to trace their conceptual origin in the earliest few decades of the medium existence. It then develops parallels between the respective working of the photographic medium and quantum physics, suggesting that photography could be seen as an early manifestation of the subatomic level at the macro level of human perception. It then develops considerations as to what a true conceptual shift in the our understanding of photography could imply, to conclude that today to cut or not to paste as indeed become the question.

Drafts by gilles massot

Whitespace Theory

Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is aud... more Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is audible time filling-up space, White Space is vanished space translated into stillness. Pr. Ma The prevalent perception of a photograph is normally restricted to its pictorial content. Its underlying nature as the result of a complex process of transfer of energies across dimensions is generally ignored. In this process the four dimensions of the continuum (x,y,z,t) are recorded and compressed as two dimensional stillness (x,y)/t°). The transmutation of a continuum moment into a self-contained object could be described with the following axiom: the space of a photograph exists in the depth of its time. Photography and its history also played a significant role in the shaping of contemporary society. The process of photographic recording initiated in the early 19 th century experienced an aptly named quantum leap when the applied quantum mechanics resulted in the production of electronic technologies that pushed its capacities to a new level. With the new century, the mobile phone and its attached camera in particular triggered an exponential increase in the production of images as well as the speed and outreach of their distribution, a phenomenon termed as Constant Self-recording Mode by the photography historian Gilles Massot in 2004 1. Today the prevalence of images in a virtual form throughout the networks of social media and Internet and the often instant impact they have on societies clearly invite us to take into account the energy by which they act on the collective subconscious rather than keep considering them as simple physical iconographic documents. The first observation above concerns the inborn nature of the photographic image from the day of its invention; the second what it has become as a result of the digital revolution. Taken together these two observations suggest the necessity to now apprehend the too familiar medium of " photography " as a brand new form of energy, and the photograph as its quantum: a precise and finite amount of energy resulting from a compression of the time-space continuum that creates a mirror image à l'identique of the original amount of energy recorded. By proposing to see the photograph as a quantum, we implement a radical change of conceptual perspective that results in the following speculative theory:

Books by gilles massot

68 Singaporean moments for my 68th birthday in Singapore

68, 2023

A photo essay on the notion of "home" and displacement

Things I Remember

Things I Remember, 2020

a pictorial book of photographs of Singapore,taken with slides films in the last two decades of ... more a pictorial book of photographs of Singapore,taken with slides films in the last two decades of the 20th century. The book is both the testimony of a very personal experience by which an alien land became home and the witnessing of a changing world, transitioning from analogue to digital technologies and tipping off into the new era at the turn of the 21st century

Bintan Phoenix Of The Malay Archipelago

Bintan Phoenix Of The Malay Archipelago, 2003

The book was developed over a period of 3 years of extensive researches, conducted with the publi... more The book was developed over a period of 3 years of extensive researches, conducted with the publisher Marc Thalmann, and beneficiated from the expertise of many well-known academics in Singapore of course but also in Hawaii and Leiden . It gathers a wealth of essential historical and contemporary information compiled for the first time and presented in an attractive format that will appeal to anybody with an interest for the Malay world and the history of the Dutch presence in Southeast Asia.

Sign(e)s & Traces

Sign(e) & Traces

a visual portfolio paralleling ancient and contemporary Beijing

68 moments singapouriens pour mes 68 ans

68, 2023

Un essai photography sur la notion du "chez moi" et du déplacement. Version française.

Placing Jules Itier’s Body of Work in Perspective

The photographic work done by Jules Itier around the China Sea in 1844-45 while travelling with t... more The photographic work done by Jules Itier around the China Sea in 1844-45 while travelling with the Lagrene Mission was thought to be, up until recently, some of the earliest photographs of several Asian countries. A new round of research has established that they are indeed the earliest extant photographs of Asia, while proposing new readings of a few outstanding daguerreotypes such as the DaNang fort and the 360o panorama of Canton made-up of 14 plates. This paper looks at the longer term and theoretical implications of what we can now call a ground-breaking body of work.

History, Ethnology, Community and Art: Finding and Performing the Narrative

The White Space Conflict Theory: Understanding Photography as Energy

Symbolism 2019

The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emerge... more The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emergence of photography in human society and, in particular, in physical reality, are yet to be understood. Speaking in three voices, the trilogy ponders the nature of photography from the points of view of art history, physics, and art. Historian of photography Gaston Gabriel Marceau explores the connections between the different histories of photography and quantum mechanics. He suggests that photography is energy. Chinese physicist Professor Ma develops this proposition further with the aid of the white space theory and the concept of &quot;duplicording&quot; which refers to the action of the recording apparatus, the camera or the phonograph. In the last essay, Malay artist Gila Masok sounds an urgent Open Call to Open-minded Scientists designating a possible path of joint art-and-science investigations of a phenomenon at the heart of the more recent &quot;duplicording&quot; developments such as big data.

Jules Itier and the Lagrené Mission

History of Photography, 2015

In the 1970s, Gilbert Gimon discovered the daguerreotype work of Jules Itier and subsequently pub... more In the 1970s, Gilbert Gimon discovered the daguerreotype work of Jules Itier and subsequently published two articles: one in French in 1980 and one in English in 1981. The historical importance of this discovery is now firmly established and the two articles have become key sources of reference. However, a close study of these publications reveals mistakes and assumptions that require resolution. Part one of this article considers two phases of gathering and dispersal of this body of work, first in the mid-nineteenth century and subsequently in the twentieth century. Individuals, situations and institutions are identified in order to assist with the necessary corrections and reinterpretations. In part two, Itier’s journal and Gimon’s articles are cross-referenced in relation to new source materials in order to undertake an in-depth investigation of a number of plates presented in chronological order. This has resulted in the correction of a number of erroneous dates and statements made by Gimon. In the process, an unexpected new name in the early history of photography was revealed in relation to the earliest clearly dated photograph of India. This article concludes with a new reading of Itier’s work and its significance for the history of photography in Asia.

Bintan: phoenix of the Malay Archipelago

A comprehensive insight into the life and times of Bintan, &#39;the phoenix of the Malay Arch... more A comprehensive insight into the life and times of Bintan, &#39;the phoenix of the Malay Archipelago, an island playing a pivotal role in the past and present of the Malay Archipelago. The book was written in the course of three years of original research, and abundantly illustrated with a body of photographic work by the author, initially started as a collection of postcards initiated in 1995 by Marc Thalmann . The book was designed by the author as well, thus making this first published work by Gilles Massot a truly all-rounded artistic and academic labour of love.

Between Legend and Reality: The Bukit Batu Cemetery of the Island of Bintan, Riau Archipelago

Archipel, 2012

THE WHITE SPACE CONFLICT THEORY: UNDERSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY AS ENERGY

Symbolism - De Gruyter, 2019

The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emerge... more The three essays that form part of this trilogy all hold that the full implications of the emergence of photography in human society and, in particular, in physical reality, are yet to be understood. Speaking in three voices, the trilogy ponders the nature of photography from the points of view of art history, physics, and art. Historian of photography Gaston Gabriel Marceau explores the connections between the different histories of photography and quantum mechanics. He suggests that photography is energy. Chinese physicist Professor Ma develops this proposition further with the aid of the white space theory and the concept of "duplicording" which refers to the action of the recording apparatus, the camera or the phonograph. In the last essay, Malay artist Gila Masok sounds an urgent Open Call to Open-minded Scientists designating a possible path of joint art-and-science investigations of a phenomenon at the heart of the more recent "duplicording" developments such as big data.

Whitespace Theory

Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. A speculative scientific e... more Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. A speculative scientific essay by Pr. Ma based on Gilles Massot's historical and theoretical analysis. a-Foreword The name adopted to designate this outline of a theory, Whitespace, is the result of a happy encounter between the axiom enunciated at the start of the paper proper below and a haphazard occurrence encountered while creating a cloud folder on my computer to gather this research material. I intended to create a folder with no name since the theory hadn't found one yet. However, I learned on that occasion that items in the cloud couldn't be left unidentified; they must have an IDENTITY, a name, a number, be differentiated or dissolve into neutral infinity, lost as non-existing in a dark corner of the virtual cloud. So this folder automatically took on the name White Space Conflict. Conflict there was none, I was perfectly at peace, but besides its evocative poetical touch, the name of the folder also drew instant connections with the information it was meant to contain. Most importantly, it echoed the fate of the third dimension, depth, playing the part of the untold victim in the complex transmutation of dimension and energies happening during a photo recording. The term Whitespace suddenly stood as an apt designation for the lost dimension of spatial depth and the gained eternity of the frozen moment, the vanished space that turns into still time to make a photograph. The name also presented the advantage of building its image by echoing the well-known expression "white noise" and its diverse connotations relating to society, behaviour, perception, time and space. Whitespace is thus the virtual residuum of the entropy generated by the photographic recording process. It is non quantifiable because it vanishes instantly into neutral infinity but it also nonetheless very much exists (for as long as the photograph exist) as a past probability turned to absolute stillness through the action of constant transformation. Whitespace is all these things at the same time albeit it is only perceivable by an observer as an absence: the absence of physical depth in the recording, an absence compensated by the learned appreciation of the cultural illusion created through stillness. Photographic recording has been arguably fundamental to the shaping of contemporary society. As anticipated by Massot's Constant Self-recording Mode the ever-expending usage of and fascination for pictorial quanta, along with all other forms of recording that were developed over the last century and a half, has become a form of constant ubiquitous activity that had no equivalent in the pre-recording era. And visual language has arguably become the common denominator that unifies the planet in its new form of consciousness. It is probably the ensuing constant accumulation of Whitespace in the interstices generated by the corresponding interruptions of the continuum that eventually

LA THEORIE DE L'ESPACE BLANC DU RECORDING AU DUPLICORDING

De la photographie perçue comme énergie en sciences physiques par Gilles Massot Synopsis Les troi... more De la photographie perçue comme énergie en sciences physiques par Gilles Massot Synopsis Les trois essais de cette trilogie soutiennent l'idée qu'il nous reste beaucoup à comprendre sur les implications de l'émergence de la photographie dans la société humaine, ainsi que son impact sur la réalité physique. Utilisant trois voix différentes, la trilogie examine la nature de la photographie du point de vue de l'histoire de l'art, de la physique, et de l'art. L'historien de la photographie Gaston Gabriel Marceau explore les liens entre les histoires respectives de la photographie et de la mécanique quantique. Il suggère que la photographie est énergie dans un sens de science physique. Le physicien chinois Professeur Ma développe cette proposition en formulant la Théorie de l'Espaces Blanc et le concept de "duplicording" qui se réfère à l'action des appareils d'enregistrement, tels que caméra ou phonographe. Dans le dernier essai, l'artiste malais Gila Masok lance dans l'urgence un "appel ouvert aux scientifiques à l'esprit ouvert" pour une investigation menée en commun par l'art et la science de ce concept de duplicording afin de mieux comprendre les développements les plus récents de notre société contemporaine tels que croissance exponentielle des médias d'information et des mégadonnées. Avant-propos: sur l'origine du nom Il y a un temps pour tout. Celui des semis est suivi par la récolte laquelle est suivie à son tour par le retour au sol, pour le fertiliser et nourrir la croissance d'une nouvelle graine qui renouvellera le cycle des transformations sans fin dont le récit de la vie est tissées. Si le temps est venu pour cet essai de fertiliser pour ainsi dire le sol de mon présent, alors la graine en est Time Frame, un travail de techniques mixtes réalisé en 1977 qui explorait la relation entre peinture et photographie dans leurs représentations respectives du temps et de l'espace 1. Ce travail plasticien de jeunesse fut ma première tentative formelle d'aller au-delà de l'apparence de la photographie, une méditation sur sa nature intrinsèque qui a depuis lors alimenté toutes mes explorations intellectuelles et artistiques. Cette méditation fut à son tour alimentée à son tour par une vie de voyages, riche en nombreuses rencontres fortuites avec des personnalités stimulantes telles que l'artiste malais Gila Masok. Nos débats animés sur ses expérimentations picturales avec la photographie ont conduit à notre collaboration en 1991 pour

Still Like a Humming Bird

An essay on the impact of modern technology on contemporary artistic practice written for an exhi... more

The Fate of the Investigator

a short story in which my theoretical research interest on the nature of time, space and their co... more

Whitespace Theory

Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is aud... more Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is audible time filling-up space, White Space is vanished space translated into stillness. Pr. Ma The prevalent perception of a photograph is normally restricted to its pictorial content. Its underlying nature as the result of a complex process of transfer of energies across dimensions is generally ignored. In this process the four dimensions of the continuum (x,y,z,t) are recorded and compressed as two dimensional stillness (x,y)/t°). The transmutation of a continuum moment into a self-contained object could be described with the following axiom: the space of a photograph exists in the depth of its time. Photography and its history also played a significant role in the shaping of contemporary society. The process of photographic recording initiated in the early 19 th century experienced an aptly named quantum leap when the applied quantum mechanics resulted in the production of electronic technologies that pushed its capacities to a new level. With the new century, the mobile phone and its attached camera in particular triggered an exponential increase in the production of images as well as the speed and outreach of their distribution, a phenomenon termed as Constant Self-recording Mode by the photography historian Gilles Massot in 2004 1. Today the prevalence of images in a virtual form throughout the networks of social media and Internet and the often instant impact they have on societies clearly invite us to take into account the energy by which they act on the collective subconscious rather than keep considering them as simple physical iconographic documents. The first observation above concerns the inborn nature of the photographic image from the day of its invention; the second what it has become as a result of the digital revolution. Taken together these two observations suggest the necessity to now apprehend the too familiar medium of " photography " as a brand new form of energy, and the photograph as its quantum: a precise and finite amount of energy resulting from a compression of the time-space continuum that creates a mirror image à l'identique of the original amount of energy recorded. By proposing to see the photograph as a quantum, we implement a radical change of conceptual perspective that results in the following speculative theory:

Performance in Frame

Starting with a discussion of Lee Miller portrait in Hitler's bath tube shot by David E. Scherman... more Starting with a discussion of Lee Miller portrait in Hitler's bath tube shot by David E. Scherman, this paper traces the mutually benefiting relation between photography and performance art all the way to Bayard's self portrait as a drowned man and follows it all the way in the practices of many contemporary artists.

To cut or not to paste, is that the question?

The paper first looks at the current developments in digital and computational photography to tra... more The paper first looks at the current developments in digital and computational photography to trace their conceptual origin in the earliest few decades of the medium existence. It then develops parallels between the respective working of the photographic medium and quantum physics, suggesting that photography could be seen as an early manifestation of the subatomic level at the macro level of human perception. It then develops considerations as to what a true conceptual shift in the our understanding of photography could imply, to conclude that today to cut or not to paste as indeed become the question.

Whitespace Theory

Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is aud... more Understanding photography as energy and the photograph as its quantum. Just as white noise is audible time filling-up space, White Space is vanished space translated into stillness. Pr. Ma The prevalent perception of a photograph is normally restricted to its pictorial content. Its underlying nature as the result of a complex process of transfer of energies across dimensions is generally ignored. In this process the four dimensions of the continuum (x,y,z,t) are recorded and compressed as two dimensional stillness (x,y)/t°). The transmutation of a continuum moment into a self-contained object could be described with the following axiom: the space of a photograph exists in the depth of its time. Photography and its history also played a significant role in the shaping of contemporary society. The process of photographic recording initiated in the early 19 th century experienced an aptly named quantum leap when the applied quantum mechanics resulted in the production of electronic technologies that pushed its capacities to a new level. With the new century, the mobile phone and its attached camera in particular triggered an exponential increase in the production of images as well as the speed and outreach of their distribution, a phenomenon termed as Constant Self-recording Mode by the photography historian Gilles Massot in 2004 1. Today the prevalence of images in a virtual form throughout the networks of social media and Internet and the often instant impact they have on societies clearly invite us to take into account the energy by which they act on the collective subconscious rather than keep considering them as simple physical iconographic documents. The first observation above concerns the inborn nature of the photographic image from the day of its invention; the second what it has become as a result of the digital revolution. Taken together these two observations suggest the necessity to now apprehend the too familiar medium of " photography " as a brand new form of energy, and the photograph as its quantum: a precise and finite amount of energy resulting from a compression of the time-space continuum that creates a mirror image à l'identique of the original amount of energy recorded. By proposing to see the photograph as a quantum, we implement a radical change of conceptual perspective that results in the following speculative theory:

68 Singaporean moments for my 68th birthday in Singapore

68, 2023

A photo essay on the notion of "home" and displacement

Things I Remember

Things I Remember, 2020

a pictorial book of photographs of Singapore,taken with slides films in the last two decades of ... more a pictorial book of photographs of Singapore,taken with slides films in the last two decades of the 20th century. The book is both the testimony of a very personal experience by which an alien land became home and the witnessing of a changing world, transitioning from analogue to digital technologies and tipping off into the new era at the turn of the 21st century

Bintan Phoenix Of The Malay Archipelago

Bintan Phoenix Of The Malay Archipelago, 2003

The book was developed over a period of 3 years of extensive researches, conducted with the publi... more The book was developed over a period of 3 years of extensive researches, conducted with the publisher Marc Thalmann, and beneficiated from the expertise of many well-known academics in Singapore of course but also in Hawaii and Leiden . It gathers a wealth of essential historical and contemporary information compiled for the first time and presented in an attractive format that will appeal to anybody with an interest for the Malay world and the history of the Dutch presence in Southeast Asia.

Retro Specks Future Pix: the Book

An artist book tracing the journey of my practice from a seminal drawing done in 1977 to the exhi... more

Hang in There (Full pdf)

An essay on photography by somebody who happened to be there (i.e. Gilles Massot) Published as a... more