I Can't See What You're Doing (2014)
Site-specific interactive installation
Projection, Arduino, Max/MSP, pressure sensors, found object
In an empty room a physical chair faces a virtual projection of that same chair occupying a virtual room that reflects the physical. The piece is activated when the viewer-participant sits in the chair; the video engages and shows the artist walking in and sitting in that same chair, staring back at the viewer-participant. The artist will remain seated for as long as the viewer-participant occupies the chair. If the viewer-participant gets up before the artist has reached the virtual chair, the artist turns around on the spot the leaves, giving the power to the screen. The work investigates the location of both the physical and virtual body in tandem, while asking which has more value.
I have reconfigured and exposed the illusion of the screen by violently taking the power from the viewer-participant to the virtual image. The viewer-participant’s presence is needed to complete the work, which asks, what is the virtual without the physical to give it leverage?
