When light travels through a lens and lands on the digital image sensor, that light will transform into digital signals as pixels. The digital camera processes those pixels in a minimal time difference, but the time distinction still exists; thus, the difference creates a concept of a pixel as an individual.

“Stochastic Camera” is a continuous art project that began in 2018. In version 0.2, re-examines and rethinks machine learning image processing algorithmic logic. The project starts with recording the melting of different ice balls over three hours. It continues for eight days, capturing approximately 24 hours of ice ball melting footage and converting it into raw pixel data for further processing. The melting ice ball symbolises a future world where crystal balls used for divination may no longer be needed while also existing as a refractive object to extend the camera’s lens. The “Stochastic Camera (version 0.2)” utilises two independent formulas representing overall stability and individual autonomy. These formulas are inspired by ensemble averaging and stochastic processes, calculating the data’s overall mean and predicting each pixel’s momentum, which results in two sets of pixel data and moving images.

How many visual variations will occur when a melting ice ball is placed inside a black box and exposed to a stable light source? The answer should be infinite and unpredictable. If there were a machine that could predict the future and show all the possibilities, then the answer would become concrete. In the meantime, how should the pixel’s autonomy be maintained?