In collaboration with Gregory T. Kuhn, Joseph Howard, Wesley Smith
Midwestern State University Museum of Art, Wichita Falls TX, September 15 - December 5, 2006
"What you hope to lay hold of has no existence. Look away and what you love is nowhere. This is your own shadow." – Narcissus Legend from Ovid's Metamorphoses
Narcissus' Well is an interactive multimedia installation that investigates how we are absorbed in the ephemeral, the intangible, the invisible, and the faraway – the quest for self-knowledge mediated through technology. The installation employs a configuration of concave spherical mirrors and real-time digital imaging, in which the spectator interacts with what is described optically as a “real image,” a rendering of his or her own mirror image extruded three-dimensionally into the physical space. Interaction with one’s mirror image in the installation, like that of Narcissus’ futile attempt to embrace himself in the agitated waters of the reflecting pool, leads to a spectacular audio-visual dematerialization of the viewer experience: a dissolution and immersion in water.
Narcissus' Well
The first completed installation of Narcissus' Well was included in the Take Me to the River exhibition at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Well was built of stone blocks arranged in a circular configuration to house the spherical mirror. The viewer faces directly across from their projected image.
Pepsi Pavilion
Narcissus' Well was originally inspired by the seminal Pepsi Pavilion, which was created by E.A.T. (Experiments in Art & Technology) for Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan. In the Pepsi Pavilion, a 90-foot diameter spherical mirror engaged viewers in the transformation of their image, enabling the audience to compose its own experience.
Research Exhibit
Mirrors: the Real and the Virtual, an information display about the project on view at the NASA-Goddard Research Center in Greenbelt, MD, where the project was developed in collaboration with optics engineer Joseph Howard between 2003 - 2005.
Caravaggio’s Narcissus
One of the most ancient parables depicting the experience of self was the legend of Narcissus, who fell in love with his own image reflected in a perfect pool of water. Narcissus ultimately destroyed himself in the unresolved predicament of self-absorption and self-love.
Mirror Gaze
This sensation of absorption and the loss of one’s presence also finds its roots in the fear of souls being captured in mirrors. The Etruscan word for soul, hinthial, literally means, “image reflected in a mirror." [prototype installation]
Reflection
In contemporary times we may ask: is the search for self-knowledge extended and amplified through the medium of digital media? Or, do we find ourselves in a crisis - like that of Narcissus’ confusion or the loss of the soul – in which we can no longer make the distinction between that which is real and that which is not, the convergence and blurring of the real and the virtual, the loss of self in the absence of reality. [prototype installation]
Mirror Image
The image of the viewer apperas on the surface of the water, a reflection of the projected image, where direct eye contact is made with oneself.
Imaging and Reflection
The viewer's reflection is seen on the far side of the mirror as a real image. This image is tracked by a camera above, projected on the screen, and then reflected back on to the water on the near side of the mirror, where the viewer makes eye contact.
Water Reverberance
As the viewer drips water into the well, the sound reverberates in the space through contact microphones and a multi-channel sound system, heightening the experience of immersion.
Viewer Interaction
From a different perspective, the viewer is engaged in interaction with their own image.