Boiling the Piss
2023
Boiling the piss, 2023, 16mm, 3'
My debut 16mm film was made at the coast near Den Haag with artist Hedwich Rooks. Together, we collected our urine and shared it in one pot. We boiled it down and watched the water evaporate until the dark brown minerals started to accumulate at the bottom. Boiling the piss is a process film eventually developed with the traditional developer D96, which uses the agency of urine to draw a viewer into the metabolizing process. It follows my investigation into researching urine as a photographic developer and/or fixer.
The first version in negative was made for the curated program Becoming alive at the Back to the Future festival organise by Filmwerkplaats in Rotterdam, in 29.9.-1.10.2023.
The next steps are to reprint the film and develop it with the urine-based developer and research the concentrated urine for multiple applications.
![]()
250ml fresh afternoon urine (24°C) + 50ml water to top up the tank + 12g waterfree soda + 4g vit C, start developing at 20°C for 18 min., temperature dropped to 14°C during the process
![]()
300 ml of 7 months old urine (very alkaline), letting it sit in the hot bath to let the temperature rise to 24°C, + 5g Vit C, developing for 20 min. (temperature dropped to 14°C during the process)
My debut 16mm film was made at the coast near Den Haag with artist Hedwich Rooks. Together, we collected our urine and shared it in one pot. We boiled it down and watched the water evaporate until the dark brown minerals started to accumulate at the bottom. Boiling the piss is a process film eventually developed with the traditional developer D96, which uses the agency of urine to draw a viewer into the metabolizing process. It follows my investigation into researching urine as a photographic developer and/or fixer.
The first version in negative was made for the curated program Becoming alive at the Back to the Future festival organise by Filmwerkplaats in Rotterdam, in 29.9.-1.10.2023.
The next steps are to reprint the film and develop it with the urine-based developer and research the concentrated urine for multiple applications.
250ml fresh afternoon urine (24°C) + 50ml water to top up the tank + 12g waterfree soda + 4g vit C, start developing at 20°C for 18 min., temperature dropped to 14°C during the process
300 ml of 7 months old urine (very alkaline), letting it sit in the hot bath to let the temperature rise to 24°C, + 5g Vit C, developing for 20 min. (temperature dropped to 14°C during the process)
A still image, Boiling the Piss, 2023
boiling the piss, digital positive
Evaporation of urine, formation of minerals at the bottom of the pot, 2023
beach set-up and filming, images by Hedwich Rooks, 2023
extracted amount