Black CAT White CAT

"Black CAT White CAT" is an artists’ photo-book, that delves into the intersections of found analogue photography, the malleability of memory and the abstract concepts of entanglement in quantum physics.

Introduction and brief overview

In the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, the author embarked on an unexpected journey through a forgotten trove of exposed film. What emerged from this discovery were four rolls of film capturing completely forgotten moments from a summer,  few years ago. "Black CAT White CAT," an artists’ photo-book, delves into the intersection of analogue photography, memory and the abstract concepts of quantum entanglement. The crux of this exploration lies in the unique nature and implications of found film, sparking philosophical questions about the nature of reality and the fluidity and malleability of memory, articulated by a conversation between the author and AI, serving as a commentary on the very basic nature of the medium.

Being witness to the unfolding of a past that otherwise may not have existed, except in faulty, and fluid, collective memory, becomes the driving force behind the book's exploration of the relationship between found analogue photography and perception.

Through introspection and meditation upon the images, the author uncovers fragmented recollections associated with their creation. However, they remain uncertain whether these visual fragments stem from genuine memories or are products of an imaginative mind, weaving together reality and fiction, ascribing the possibility of this phenomena to the consuming and repetitive act of scanning negatives, and being glued to a digital monitor, watching emerging grains and the coalescence of film grain into images, for weeks on end.

This becomes an unwitting prelude to the narrative’s exploration of the uncertainty principal in quantum superposition, of its comparison to the Ervin Schrodinger’s thought experiment, and the interplay between reality, memory, death and imagination.

Purpose of the Grant

The purpose of this grant is to secure financial support for the production, design, and publication of the book "Black CAT White CAT." The production of the images received a small bursary that covers the cost of scanning the images, and the PhMuseum grant would help in the final publishing of the book.

This funding will enable the realization of a project that challenges traditional perspectives on photography and memory, bridging the gap between scientific inquiry, artistic expression, exploration of Artificial Intelligence’s view point on the same, and an intimate personal narrative. The book incorporates traditional black and white 35mm images, scientific and psychical seeming illustrations made with the help of AI (and further altered), and text.