Ulay - a conceptual artist who is fascinated by the phenomenology of the photographic medium - has been and keeps being a source of inspiration for me as I navigate my way of approaching photography and performance.

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One of his work that links to this project is "FOTOTOT 1 - action in 2 parts" (1976). Two experiments that question the photographic objectivity, and bring into light its impermanent characteristic. Eight black and white photographs, developed in dark room but without being fixed, were hung on the walls of teh De Appel Gallery (Amsterdam, NL). When the audience entered, the lights were turned on, and as consequence the images turned into black into 30seconds.

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For the second action, ULAY used the documentation from the first action: the eight blackened images and a portfolio with documentation images, all placed on a table with a reading light on the top.In order to look at the images, teh audience had to turn on the reading light. Consequently the images, once again, started fading out (in less than 3 minutes).

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This process of disappearance highlight the aspect of illusion related to a photograph. The illusion of permanence and fixedness. By eliminating the fixing phase of the emulsion, Ulay gives back to the photograph its own mortality.

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