Self-Timed Portrait is an interactive sculpture in which personal photographs supplied by the subject of the portrait are synchronized with the anticipated remaining years of his life. The participant is invited to choose a series of photographs from his personal album, one for each year of his life that remains, until the completion of an actuarial life expectancy of 78 years. These photographs are captioned and numbered on the reverse side of the image and ordered chronologically in the sculpture, beginning with the most recent.

Located on top of a sealed steel box is an electro-mechanical device that controls the consecutive display of the photographs, one photograph annually, as well as a light-emitting diode display of the remaining hours in the life of the subject of Self-Timed Portrait. The motorized mechanism slowly draws the photograph down, to deposit it into the slot of the welded steel box, at a visibly imperceptible speed, over the period of a year, while the red LED display flashes rapidly the remaining number of hours the subject has yet to live.