Visiting Doctor Laser in New York City, New York, New York (B)

The flamboyant doctor, dressed in his white laboratory coat, spins a transparent empty cylinder: “look,” he says mysteriously. Curious, we focus on the inside of the cylinder… A 3D female figure appears and starts dancing, changing colours from red to a shades of green, yellow and orange. When the rotation stops, the psychedelic dancer disappears. Puzzled, I look at Doctor Laser: “this is a 21st century flip book!” he laughs. “More than 2000 holograms are printed on the transparent film stuck on the cylinder, and rotating it is like flipping the pages. He asks us to follow him into his secret laboratory, tucked down underneath the streets of Midtown Manhattan to uncover the oldest holographic studio in the world.

By his real name Jason Sapan, Dr. Laser guides us through a narrow staircase into the basement of a former blacksmith’s forge he turned into his workshop back in the 70’s. As one of the pioneers of holography, Jason has been carrying out his work for more than 40 years in the dark and extricate laboratory that we are carefully entering, passing rolls of shiny hologram paper and samples of previous commissioned works for brands wanting to advertise in a futuristic way. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).