A map of a city. Streets, railroad tracks, parks and houses can be seen as fine black lines. The city is populated by fast moving microorganisms of different shapes and sizes. The video image is a live transmission from a microscope. On the microscope stage is a glass slide mounted with a microfilm that was previously exposed to a detailed map of the area surrounding the exhibition site. A few drops of a water sample from a local body of water have been dripped onto it, creating a thin film that covers the surface of the microfilm. Visitors can use rotary knobs to move the map up, down and sideways. In doing so, they repeatedly encounter strange creatures that scurry through the image like sea monsters. The work interweaves and connects different levels of scale. While we observe the microcosm, we also see our own world from a bird's eye view. Your home and other known landmarks become reference points to find your way around in the water sample. By adding a street map to the microcosm, this alien world becomes suddenly relatable and familiar.

Foto: Jan Rasch


Foto: Jan Rasch


Foto: Jan Rasch