Mirror art shows animal reflections

[frameacloud]

Trigger warnings: Spooky mirror imagery, kind of trippy, weird faces. Linked article talks about neurology.

About a year ago: This is an interactive art installation by fine art animator Karolina Sobecka, titled All the universe is full of the lives of perfect creatures. It's a mirror that juxtaposes a computer animated animal face upon the viewer's reflection. In the video above, the ghostly face is offset due to the camera angle. From the perspective of the person looking in the mirror, the animal face covers their own, like a mask. The artist's statement explains,

"A different animal appears every time a person walks in front of the mirror. The animal not only mimics the viewer's facial features, but also occasionally makes its own, uniquely animal expressions. The viewer feels compelled to in turn enact such lip licking and snarling, fully inhabiting the role; following while being followed. This project explores a mirror as an amalgamation of the self and the other, inviting inquiry into how we determine the boundary between the two."

The art piece uses the mirror as a symbol of self-reflection and imitation, to draw attention to the mental processes involved in these, particularly 'mirror neurons.' For more information, see the web-page for this piece.


As far as I know, this artwork has no explicit connection to therianthropy. Nonetheless, I include it here because of the themes of transformation through augmented reality. That topic has been dealt with before a few times in this blog.


Source

Karolina Sobecka, "All the Universe is Full of the Lives of Perfect Creatures." n.d. (The video was posted about a year ago, with no specific date shown.) Karolina Sobecka. http://www.gravitytrap.com/artwork/perfect-creatures