OPTICAL GRAFFITI GUERILLA: The genius of Julius Von Bismark
No, this is not the latest photo of an ISIS jackass terrorising his latest victims. The device in german artist Julius Von Bismark's hand is the IMAGE FULGURATOR, a creation of his that projects text or images unto people, buildings or anything else he wants to hijack optically with his own political message. The genius is not only in its construction but also how it is applied. Julius von Bismarck has used the machine to project a cross onto the speaker pulpit of Barack Obama, Magritte’s dove onto a portrait of Mao, the German insignia of the eagle onto policemen during May Day demonstrations, and the word “NO” over the Pope administering mass.The insertion of such signs and symbols into images taken by nearby photographers, initially remains invisible. The manipulation occurs at the moment the photograph is taken but is only noticeable on the final image. He attended the Berlin University of the Arts and the Hunter College in New York. His project, the Image Fulgurator was awarded the Prix Ars Electronica and widely acclaimed as well as featured in various media outlets like Wired, Arte and The Creators Project of Vice among others.
How does this contraption work? It functions by generating an extremely rapid or “flash” projection of an image, which is triggered by other nearby camera flashes by means of an internal sensor. This triggers his own flash, which fires through the back of the camera, through a film slide containing his slogan and then on and out through the lens at the front. The camera pretty much becomes a projector in reverse. And because the light-graffiti is fired at the exact same moment the unsuspecting victim takes a picture, it ends up in their photograph and mission accomplished, you've just been "punked" optically. If only guerilla wars of the future employed more of his technique rather than what is more commonplace. And yes, I like this because his camera looks like a gun...
