Rintaro Hara | Works

Himmeli-Reflection

Himmeli-Reflection
Himmeli-Reflection
Himmeli-Reflection
  • Himmeli-Reflection
  • Material: straw, motor, black light, fabric
  • Year: 2015
  • Place: Tsunan Information Center, Nigata

Himmeli are traditional Finnish ornaments where a polyhedron is produced by combining straws and thread, and are also known as light mobiles. In this work, by focusing on and applying motive power to the polyhedron frame structures of which the himmeli are composed, an installation is developed where it appears as though wireframe computer graphics have entered a real space. Drinking straws coated with fluorescent paint of various colors are used as the materials, and these are tied together with thread to produce polyhedron forms. Multiple aluminum bars are hung from the ceiling, with the end of each bar attached to a himmeli and a motor, with spinning, revolution and up-down motion performed repeatedly. Also, by setting the whole room in total darkness and turning on black lights, it appears as though only the drinking straw parts are floating in the air. In our visual perception of the world in everyday life, we arguably spend more time looking at images and videos through digital particles based on pixel conversion than we spend looking directly at real images. The audience experiencing “Himmeli-Reflection” floating in the darkness might feel at first glance as though they are seeing projected 3D computer graphics. However, as their sense of sight and hearing adapts to the space, faint motor sounds and changes in sense of distance from the objects will gradually change the audience’s awareness to realize that these are actual existing objects rather than projections. By expressing changes of perception that occur while appreciating this installation, the audience will begin to question whether events and phenomena that are ordinarily accepted without doubt and recognized are in fact real or not. In a broad sense, I believe this shows that interactive art can acquire interactivity from more of a meta perspective by virtue of diverse relationships between the audience and the work, without necessarily having to incorporate programming.
Photo: Tatsuhiko Nakagawa

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