Wayne Martin Belger's Cameras

[Et in Arcadia ego]

*Lifted from the Vae Solis forum, posted courtesy of Hemadrone - Arcadia

http://www.boyofblue.com/cameras.html

Third Eye Camera:

Designed to study the beauty of decay.
4”x5” camera made from Aluminium, Titanium, Brass, Silver, Gem Stones and a 150 year old skull of a 13 year old girl. Light and time enters at the third eye, exposing the film in the middle of the skull.


Yama (Tibetan Skull Camera):

Designed for the study of exodus and for the research of modern incarnations of historical iconic figures.
The latest camera is named Yama, the Tibetan God of Death. In Tibetan Buddhism, Yama will see all of life and Karma is the “judge” that keeps the balance. The skull was blessed by a Tibetan Lama for its current journey and I’m working with a Tibetan legal organization that is sending me to the refugee cities in India.
Yama’s eyes are cast from bronze and silver with a brass pinhole in each. A divider runs down the middle of the skull creating two separate cameras. A finished contact print mounted on copper is inserted in to the back of the camera to view what Yama saw in 3D.
Yama is made from Aluminium, Titanium, Copper, Brass, Bronze Steel, Silver, Gold, Mercury with 4 Sapphires, 3 Rubies (The one at Yama’s third eye was $5000.00), Asian and American Turquoise, Sand, Blood, and 9 Opals inlayed in the Skull. The film loading system is pneumatic. A 300psi air tank in the middle of the camera powers 2 pneumatic pistons to move the film holder forward and lock it into place. The switch to open and close the film chamber is located under the jaw.
Designed for two photo series. First series is of my interpretation of the modern incarnation of Southeast Asians deities. Second will take place in the Tibetan refugee cities of India, a home coming through the eyes of a 500 year old Tibetan.

[barracuda]

Very cool stuff, a fine piece of optical equipment for the man around the house. Now for the ladies, the jeweled skull by Damien Hirst, entitled, For the Love of God,

a human skull recreated in platinum and adorned with 8,601 diamonds weighing a total of 1,106.18 carats. Approximately £15,000,000 worth of diamonds were used. It was modelled on an 18th century skull, but the only surviving human part of the original is the teeth.

On August 30, 2007, For the Love of God was sold for £50,000,000 (100 million dollars or 75 million euros).

I know, not really quite as cool as the camera, but perhaps some people might not be aware of this sculpture. I am not very good at resisting the temptation to turn this into a thread about very cool skulls.

[brainpanhandler]

One of the enduring questions I have about my erstwhile hallucinogenic experiences is why it is that the predominant image my mind conjures to make sense of randomness is a human skull? Why do I see skulls everywhere when confronted with the chaotic swirl of nature, ie... cumulous clouds, a tree dramatically lit at night by a streetlamp , the bendy, watery reflections of sunlight on a wall, the growth rings of wood paneling, etc...? And what's more, I see the same skulls in the same chaotic forms in exactly the same way if the conditions are all the same. Why skulls? Why not something else, anything else?!

[orz]

Turn around, turn around
There's a thing there that can be found
Turn around, turn around
It's a human skull on the ground
Human skull on the ground
Turn around