Why I want to put a camera in my Eye
On August 29, 2005 I lost my eye in a single car accident.
I discovered in a very traumatic and jarring way that you can lose life quickly and without warning- everything that you knew, your memories, your friends and family gone in an instant. Coming back in the living I wanted to really savor life, those moments that you take for granted became intentional markers of memories for me.
Which is why I posted a call to engineers to build a miniature camera to be implanted in my prosthetic eye. The response stunned me … it was an international curiosity. In between all the media there were hundreds of other one-eyeds just like me. My blog became a forum for their stories and encouraged them not to hide. It showed them that they weren’t victims. It wasn’t until I read all of their moving responses that I realized why I was doing this. – to transform my own loss. Loss can be an opportunity to discover something new or grow something new in its place. Just the act of calling upon change helped me heal. I had unintentionally triggered a dialogue about what it meant to be human.
While my vision is permanently altered the most powerful change is in my mind. This decision to implant a camera in my eye is like inviting a little cinematographer to live in my brain. This consciousness that I’m documenting what I’m observing enables me to be more present and engaged in every moment, this I hope will inspire others to really look, to pay attention to the details, the meaning, the composition of life.– to look deeper. And if by looking long enough through pealing off layer by layer and preconceived notions; we discover ... ?
Tanya Marie Vlach
The Documentary, directed by Phoebe Tooke
Media
¬Eye-dentity Crisis, (photography series) investigating the connotations of loss through stereotype, reinvention, and transformation. Focusing on merging technology and the body with the upgrade of a prosthetic eye into a seeing machine, it is a commentary on the evolving nature of diversity - (asking what it means to be human.)
¬What we can’t see, (in development) virtual world of eye-cameras, walking through the lives of monocular artists throughout the world.
¬A window into the soul, (in development) A call for artists to create miniature art works for my eye. The eye as gallery. Exhibition of eyes and photography. I will wear the winning piece at the exhibition.
Literary
¬EyeTanya.com, (blog) about the future of sight, a chronicling of Tanya’s adjustment to a monocular life, and why she looks so damn good in an eye-patch.
¬#21. grow a new eye, ( work-in-progress manuscript ) about loss, insight, and cyborgs.
¬Alturas, (graphic novel) of a sci-fi dystopia, a story within a story: #21. grow a new eye.
¬An how to guide to being human in the future (articles) investigating the implications of the over saturation of technology into our lives.
¬Manifesto+, (in development - a contemporary commentary) of the 100th anniversary of the Italian Futurist Manifesto
Performances
¬Cyborg in the City, is an exploration of the consequences of bioengineering and technology to our bodies, our minds, and humanity; I will conduct a series of investigations as different personas: the Cyborg, the Gonzo Futurist, the Double Agent, the Ethnographic Lover, etc. Completely going into character, I will hit the streets of various cities gathering information and documentation to be projected at a disclosed location as well as broadcast my research on the Internet.
