In September 2025, I had the opportunity to photograph and document On Point at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. Presented by Singapore, the project explored the relationship between technology, perception, and the complexities of our contemporary world.
At the centre of the project was lightmode, an installation by artist Victoria Hertel, developed in collaboration with engineer Justin Ong. The work consisted of a spatial arrangement of illuminated vessels whose behaviour was shaped by a combination of programmed sequences and sensor-based responses. The presence and movement of visitors around the installation influenced the system, generating shifting pulses, flickers, and patterns of light.
These relationships were not immediately apparent. To understand how the work behaved, visitors had to spend time within the space, observe it, and allow the connections between light, technology, the environment, and human presence to gradually reveal themselves.
This act of slowing down and paying attention was central to On Point. Rather than giving in to our tendency to simplify complex situations and search for immediate answers, the project proposed another approach: slowing down, observing more carefully, and becoming more aware of the relationships between the different elements within a system.
In lightmode, technology was not simply a tool controlled by humans. The sensors perceived the environment and the presence of visitors, while visitors, in turn, experienced the responses of the system. What emerged was a reciprocal relationship between body, space, and technology. This approach also connects to Hertel’s broader artistic practice, in which sensory experience, materiality, technology, and our awareness of ourselves within an environment are closely intertwined.
For me, photographing On Point was more than simply documenting an installation. One of the most interesting aspects of the process was finding ways to translate the relationship between light, the physical structure of the work, the exhibition space, and the presence of people into still images—particularly when the work itself was fundamentally shaped by time, movement, and continuous change.
On Point was presented as part of Ars Electronica Festival 2025 in Linz, Austria.
Photography: Yasser Sepehr
Photography Assistant: Farzaneh Hedayati