Water Mirror

An aesthetic experiment in perception and interactive art.

Thanks to http://openweathermap.org for Venice and Sydney weather data. See also related work: Ruby Corrents 2.0 (2018), Dichroic Wade (2016), Light Waves (2015), Light Currents (2015), Chroma See (2021)

Above: Photograph of Water Mirror in the studio: Looking into the frame reveals past and current images of the self, between visualisations of moving water.
Below: Photograph of real time programming environment in Touch Designer © Jen Seevinck

Water Mirror (2022) is an aesthetic experiment in perception and interactive art. It is a new development from a series of prior works concerned with light, wind data and hybrid place, to effect a distended perception in the audience. The audience can occupy the in-between space of the physically present self, various virtual selves, and a virtual representation of the city.

The experience is a leaning into organic unfolding, with yourself becoming visible from different angles and times, ‘submerged’ in the current waters of waters beyond the gallery – depicted as a shimmer of light on the water surface that is changing direction and speed with the real time weather conditions outside.

It is an organic, fluid interaction where the self is mirrored back to you within an abstract rendering of live weather data. The work comprises synthetic and video imagery that is viewed through two way mirrored glass, and responding to your movements and the changing wind on the water.

Created in 2021-2022, Water Mirror showed at the Sala del Camino exhibition space of Istituzione Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa in Venice Italy 22 - 27 June 2022. Water Mirror was installed as part of the peer reviewed Cities of the Future exhibition, also the art exhibition for the ACM Creativity and Cognition Conference 2022. Exhibition images above; studio and process imagery below.

Water Mirror V2 will show at Mosman Gallery, Sydney 4 Jan- 5 Mar 2023, opening on 18 January 2023.