‘virtual object’ 2007 -
This piece is presented as a video projection on the wall of a dimly lit room. As you enter you see the still image of a rock suspended on the wall, as you move closer, or to the side, the rock begins to revolve and rotate, tracking and translating your movements into equal and opposite movements, in the manner of a reflection in a mirror. The specimen of rock is a piece of gold ore found on a spaghetti western location in southern Spain. The installation is created using a ‘global portrait’ (a photo from every angle) of the rock, put onto the computer and combined with motion-sensing software written for me by the technical department of The Banff Centre, Canada. This animates the virtual image of the rock to respond to the viewers movements in the room, as if it were 3d. ‘Virtual object’ juxtaposes a geological sense of identification of the rock with a personal sense of identification of self as ‘object’ in the ‘mirror’ and the technology of the spectacle, representation and seduction.