A Curatorial Perspective on Two Objects

Digital imaging is inseparable from its origin in Southern California’s Cold War research labs. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineer Eugene Lally presented and published a concept paper in 1961 that would later come to be regarded as the birth of digital imaging. Lally theorized the possibility of a spacecraft guidance system that relied on capturing image grids via photoconductive sensors. The purpose of this early digital picture taking was stated as “gathering scientific information, choosing missions, and providing strategic surveillance.” History would show how the technologies developed to realize Lally’s concept would also serve as a foundation for digital photography—a medium that transforms light into digital picture elements, or pixels, by way of sensors. This document exemplifies the interwoven-ness of digital photography and the military-industrial-scientific complex that served as its incubator. The term “military-industrial-scientific complex” refers to the network of personnel and institutions that collaborate to produce military weaponry and its technologies.

Azon Machine is a mockumentary series by Huntrezz Janos that plays on the profoundly patriarchal and white history of science and technology, satirizing the myths of neutrality, factuality, and reputability commonly associated with scientific breakthroughs. It pairs segments of seemingly factual information with a hypothetical Azon Machine prototype. The name “Azon” is an acronym for “alternate zero observance and navigation,” which theorizes zero not as an absence, but as containing numerous possibilities.

Exhibition page.