touching the invisible
keywords
people
Pieces
brainball
brainbar
delay mirror
hellhunt
monochromeye
remotehome
Cities & dates
budapest 2004
moscow 2005
london 2005
oslo 2005
stockholm 2006
montreal 2006
The DelayMirror not only plays back a continuous delayed image of your self, but also provokes deeply rooted issues around your self-perception and self-esteem.
The DelayMirror is a part of a larger project called the RefashionLab, which acted as a platform for a number of interactive installations that could redefine the culture and experience of a fictitious fashion store. The project was presented in Stockholm in 2001.
The DelayMirror is one of the simplest, but most provoking pieces in the RefashionLab. It plays with the visitor’s self-perception and self-esteem in a very unexpected way.
Technically, it simply records a continuous video stream from a small camera mounted above the "mirror". A computer then delays the signal by 3 seconds, and plays back the ongoing stream on a large plasma screen, which is mounted like a real mirror.
The original intention was to offer the visitor an unusual perspective on his own person, a viewpoint that is continuously changing, but not necessarily predictable. It would be the next best thing to having a pair of eyes on your back. However, the real power of the installation unfolded when it was released for public consumption, from children to pensioners.
The effect of being trapped in the 3 second continuum, an unstoppable record of past moments, had an immense impact on each visitor. Young children loved the installation, using it almost like a playground, with an endless curiosity. That curiosity was displaced by suspicion and giggling with the teenagers. Turned to the age of puberty, a shift in the self-image obviously takes place that is extremely challenged by the DelayMirror. Adults were split into different types, those who obviously felt intrigued and self-confident, and those who instantly ran away. And of course actors abusing the piece as an experimental stage to produce their next persona.
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Delay mirror. Photo: Loove Broms. delaymirror220082.tif (7.4 MB) |
Delay mirror. Photo: Loove Broms. delaymirror220087.tif (6.8 MB) |
Delay mirror. (Featuring Leif Pagrotsky, Swedish minister of culture and education, crown princess Victoria, and Ingvar Sjöberg, head of smart studio). Photo: Loove Broms. |
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| Delay mirror in Moscow. Photo: Arijana Kajfes. P1010001.jpg (1MB) | Delay mirror in Moscow. Photo: Arijana Kajfes. P1010003.jpg (772k) | Delay mirror in Oslo. Photo: Smart studio. delaymirror1493.jpg |
also see press images
KEYWORDS
awareness shift · self-provocation · machine vision
PEOPLE
Tobi Schneidler · Magnus Jonsson
LINKS
ReFashion Lab
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