In his 1895 photographic series of the same title, English physicist Arthur Mason Worthington—a pioneer in high-speed photography—studied both the physics and aesthetics of a splashing drop. Compiled into a book, the images capture a water droplet at various stages of dissolution. While the frontispiece presents three photographs of the splash, the photographic technology of the time was unable to accurately document the finer stages of its descent. As a result, the remaining images relied on hand-drawn illustrations, which were then considered a more precise method of recording motion. The splash of a drop 1(2022) revisits this era, when photography first challenged painting as a documentary medium. The emergence and evolution of photography fundamentally shaped how reality is perceived and recorded. Tan Mu celebrates the tactile, handmade qualities of painting, reinterpreting the process as a nostalgic reflection in an age oversaturated with images.

Q: Could you describe the creative background of your painting The Splash of a Drop 1 (2022)?

Tan Mu: This painting was inspired by the book The Splash of a Drop published in 1895, which documents a series of images capturing the various stages of a water droplet’s impact and dissolution. Although the frontispiece includes photographs of splashing milk drops, the photographic technology of that era was not yet capable of recording every micro detail with complete precision. The author repeatedly conducted the same experiment, carefully observing and documenting each stage by hand. I am deeply fascinated by this phenomenon because it is both fleeting and endlessly repeatable.

Through painting, I revisited and re-recorded these photographic moments. The Splash of a Drop 1 relates closely to my earlier work TRINITY TESTING (2020). Both works document transformations that occur within extremely short spans of time. They were exhibited together in Berlin and share the same dimensions. While TRINITY TESTING captures the immense energy of a nuclear explosion associated with heat and destruction, The Splash of a Drop 1 focuses on subtle variations within a water droplet’s movement. Despite their contrasting subjects, both works examine how technology allows us to observe and archive transient events that would otherwise escape human perception. This interest connects to my broader inquiry into how technology reshapes the way we perceive time and transformation.

Q: You have mentioned that the documentary nature of painting is important to you. Why did you choose painting over photography to record these fleeting moments?

Tan Mu: Painting holds a unique documentary power for me. This naturally raises a question. If the intention is to record reality, why not use photography instead. During my university studies, I took extensive photography courses, both traditional and contemporary. One foundational concept in photography is the idea of the decisive moment, capturing a precise instant in time. I believe this idea also applies to painting, even though the medium operates differently.

Photography freezes a moment through light, chemical reactions, or digital sensors. Painting, however, unfolds over time and incorporates bodily movement, memory, and emotion. Just as photographic images can be altered by exposure time or chemical processes, painting is also a time based process. At its core, it remains an attempt to engage with a decisive moment. By choosing painting, I intentionally slow the process down. I re-record and amplify visual information through human gesture, allowing subtle transformations to emerge in ways that challenge the immediacy of photography and emphasize the presence of the human hand.

Q: How do you perceive the relationship between technology and artistic creation?

Tan Mu: Technology is essential to my artistic practice because it extends our ability to see and record the world. Whether through photography, painting, microscopes, or telescopes, technology expands perception and allows us to access moments that would otherwise remain invisible. However, artistic creation is never purely technological. It also involves emotion, memory, and subjective interpretation.

While technology can capture a fleeting instant, art allows that instant to be reexamined, slowed down, and infused with meaning. This intersection between technology and human experience continually drives my work. Whether I am painting the moment a droplet strikes a surface or reflecting on images of distant celestial bodies, I am interested in how these tools extend vision and preserve decisive moments. This pursuit of heightened observation and reflection lies at the core of my artistic practice.