‘Mirror’: a gigantic Led mirror that responds to real-time changes in the city of Seattle

Multimedia artist Doug Aitken has realized patron and philanthropist Bagley Wright's dream of creating an innovative outdoor installation for the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) in Australia, based on a gigantic Led screen that wraps around the two facades of the museum.

With the name 'Mirror' (mirror), multimedia artist Doug Aitken has created a large LED screen (34 panels on each facade) in a horizontal configuration that surrounds the third floor of the building Seattle Art Museum (Australia), apparently from the Belgian firm Barco, although its author has not wanted to confirm it.

The work is completed with vertical LED strips located above and below the video screens, creating a curtain wall with technology Benson Industries (something that its creator has not confirmed either).

Both systems, The screen and LED strips offer a combination of video images, fixed and mobile, of Seattle cityscapes, surfaces and objects filmed by Aitken and his production team.

For Catharina Manchanda, curator of this project at SAM, “There is much more than a mirror video screen. Aitken is responding to the barrage of video footage and lights often seen in environments like Times Square. Here the images of 'Mirror' move at a slow pace, reflective, but the important thing is that they are dynamic, to the point of being spontaneous”.

Real-time city kaleidoscope

As its author points out, “Mirror is an urban earth movement, that reflects in real time the changes in activity that occurs around you. It's a living kaleidoscope; a dynamic representation of the constantly changing environments that make up Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

To achieve this visual mirror effect of the content of the screens and Led strips, The installation software responds to the data it receives from environmental sensors regarding weather, pedestrian traffic and other events that take place around the museum.

“The images offered by 'Mirror' give an idea of ​​a game at a given time. For example, the nearby olympic mountains, whose colors the LED strips collect from the sky, is replaced by a ship in the port of Seattle, that reflects the same cold white and blue tones - Manchanda emphasizes -. Warm, tan orange tones are used to show a seaside sunset, and again the colors are picked up by the LED strips, with an infinite variety of combinations”.

This is just a small sample of the numerous videos and images shot by Doug Aitken and his team, stored on local SAM server for 'Mirror' contents.

As the SAM commissioner explains, “Mirror not only reflects the city, but it responds to your changes. With the introduction of several sensors in the system, the program selects images that not only reflect what is happening outside, but it offers a counterpoint and different points of view. For example, If it's a cloudy day in Seattle, 'Mirror' can respond by showing images of the city with sun, offering a positive perspective that is also part of the living reality of the city”.

Precisely because 'Mirror' constantly selects its content in response to data from environmental sensors, The images shown on the screens are never the same, even minute by minute. “This makes it difficult to leave comments on this project, since it has never been seen enough to accurately understand all its possibilities. Unlike a standard film or video screen, with projects that end the moment you see, 'Mirror' is always a work in progress.".

A primary aspect of this project is the varied multimedia work of Doug Aitken, with important works in photography, mono and multichannel video and architectural installations. Before 'Mirror', Aitken performed in 2007 the exhibition 'Somnambulists' at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), that he used . Giant outdoor video screens and projections around the museum's façade to show five independent films about New Yorkers' nightlife.

As Aitken noted at the time, “I don't want to tell a story and give it a conclusion.”. "I want an open exchange and a reflection of the individual's own way of life.". In front of 'Sonámbulos', which was a temporary installation, ‘Mirror’ is permanent and follows his idea that “video creation interacts with its environment and observers.”, instead of repeating the same story that is played over and over again”.

Four years of challenges

The development and launch of 'Mirror' has been a complex task that required four years of work.. As Manchanda remembers, “most of this time was spent configuring the installation, so the technology can be easily repaired, both the screens and the LED strips as they wear out, and the same goes for outdoor sensors, servers,…”.

In this regard, 'Mirror' is a recent installation, March 2013. Although they still do not know how they will add content regarding the changes and growth of the city., Manchanda points out that “we will review the installation periodically with Aitken and we will see”.

In this line, Aitken remains committed: “with ‘Mirror’ I was interested in creating a living museum, a building in the center of the city that can change in real time in relation to the environment around it. It's like an urban earthwork and Seattle is a very complex and fascinating city.. 'Mirror' is an attempt to reflect the simultaneity of the culture and landscape of this city.".