“Ritual requires us to really see. What we are able to see if we use our eyes without censorship and prejudgements is a virtual image. It is real, for when we are confronted by it, it really does exist, but it is not actually there. The reflection in the mirror is such a virtual image; so is a rainbow. It seems to stand on earth or in the clouds, but it is not tangible. It is the unspeakable, the ineffable made visible, made audible, made experiential.”
Jamake Highwater “Ritual of the Wind”
Today, magic mirrors are used as displays in retail and commercial spaces, but they have a long history dated back to the Palaeolithic. Back then, as now, it was used as predictive technology. The way in which it works, it both reflects the present moment and projects the aggregated data as future predictions. This is done through the use of optical technology.
This summer, we are building a Magic Mirror at the Holocenter NYC on Governors Island. In our piece, we are using holograms, which is a system of projecting images that exist in multiple dimensions in one space. It’s through the use of lighting that the viewer can see one specific image which changes accordingly to the lighting.
At Art Hack, we would like to build miniature versions as light boxes. They parallels the technologies we use in our phones, both in form factor and behaviour. The Magic Mirrors are a playful juxtaposition of the history of predictive technology, it’s position in today’s culture versus the previously spiritual experience it used to be.
These will use the Muse to control the lighting of the holograms, creating a personal revelation for the user based on their brainwaves. In conjunction, we will be working on the larger version which will serve as a bigger communal experience at Governors Island.
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