Alma Haser - a UK-based artist and photographer - has created The Ten Seconds Project paying homage to her childhood version of the game, hide and seek. Here is how it all began; when Alma was a child she used to play with her younger brother, Oskar.
They lived in an old match factory deep in the Black Forest in Germany. Both parents were artists, and their home was extremely creative. They made handcrafted toys and allowed their children the freedom to run wild.
Alma’s father often filmed his children while they played. When she rediscovered archive footage of herself as a child it sparked the idea for this project. After watching the home video of her and her brother playing their own version of hide and seek, she decided to recreate the game with her adult self and her camera.
Now Alma is playing against herself. She chooses the hiding locations and sets up her cameras to record and seek. The new rule to the game is that she only has ten seconds before the self-timer goes off and she is caught on camera.
The Ten Seconds Project has already attracted interest from galleries, magazines and other artists. Kate Edwards the Guardian picture editor said, “Brilliant project - I really like it, and love the way you have developed it from recreating a childhood game to videoing the process. It’s really clever and I agree, could well go viral.”
Alma has now created a website to allow other people to join in the game. She plans to start an online craze and then eventually when there are enough entries, to start a travelling exhibition. Anyone and everyone can join in; you need two cameras, one to take the picture and one to video yourself as you hide. For the rules and more information please go to www.tensecondsproject.co.uk or email alma@haser.org.
