DRESSING MIRROR '2003

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Description: Dressing Mirror is a video installation in the form of a white screened off, domestic room.

  • The style of the room is retro-futurist, minimal/abstract.
  • The room is constructed by two screens placed against two corner walls.
  • The area is screened-off to create a private experience for 3-4 people. In the room are two objects.
  • The dominant object is a free-standing, life-size mirror with a round, wood-laminated, curved, frame. The mirror is supported by an overhead extension arm connected to the wall.
  • The surface of the mirror is a rear projection video screen.
  • The second object is a wall fixture like an oversized plastic draw handle or an oversized ballet practice barre.
  • The mirror is made to look like an old hinged dressing mirror to help establish its context within the domestic dressing room.

Rationale: A mirror presents an interactive experience that helps facilitate self awareness. When looking into the mirror there is always a natural time delay between the self and the image reflected off the surface of the mirror back into the eyes. Because of this delay we never actually see ourselves fully-as we exist in the present. We take this for granted as the speed of light over such a small distance is faster than our eyes' perception of it.

Dressing Mirror takes this time delay and stretches it to three seconds. How do we respond to seeing ourselves with this time delay present in front of us?

This time delay is designed to shift and intensify the experience of looking at the self in the mirror. It enables you to catch yourself in the act of looking at yourself. Human beings are naturally absorbed by their own image, this work creates an opportunity for the viewer to contemplate more fully, in a private, self-reflexive setting, the act of viewing the self.

A person is often self absorbed by their own image. This is the impetus for them coming along to the mirror and interacting with it. By introducing the mirror's asynchronous representation of time, we potentially introduce a level of objectivity to the experience, which is an aspect that self absorption denies us. The viewers experience is one of self-reflexivity, where the very act they are engaging in is directed back at them selves in mid-action.

Today we're bound by constructs of our society expectations. Role playing is engrained in day to day life and influences our personal relationships, business relationships, and our life choices.

A mirror is a tool that helps us to become aware of ourselves in the moment. The Dressing Mirror allows us to take the act of self observation from the first person to the third person. The mirror located in the dressing room of the house of tomorrow bends time allowing the user to observe themselves from all angles without inducing needless neck strain.

It is set in the domestic dressing room where our relationship to the mirror is at its most satisfying.

List of technical components

  • Video Camera,
  • Area lighting | Must be provided.
  • Mirror projection surface.
  • Video Projector | Must be provided | Can source competitive Quotes.
  • Video Projector stand.
  • Video capture/Delay unit (Custom built PC & software)
  • Space 3m x 7m | Must be provided.
  • False wall with 62cm x 62cm hole cut | Must be provided | (for projection) exact specs will be provided.
  • Screens to screen off area and provide for a more personal experience.

PROJECTION DISTANCES - Download PROJ.pdf - 33k

CONCEPT SKETCHES

Images by Olaf Meyer

Original mirror design by John Meade & Olaf Meyer