We are greeted by three big doorways as we enter the purpose-built Illuminate Pavilion in Victoria Square / Tarntanyangga. Standing before these doors, making a decision about a path forward, it feels like you are in a Dr Seuss book. No path, or door, is the wrong choice; it’s simply your journey.
Behind those doors is a maze that leads to six spaces of enchantment and immersion, created through scenography, lighting, language and music. All these spaces need to bring them to life is human interaction.
Each section offers a different realm of creativity and self-discovery, and is not only a distinct example of how art and technology intersect but encourages a distinct way of participating in the experience.
Nature, a common theme in Moment Factory works, is a recurring reference point throughout Mirror Mirror. In “The Forest of Echoes”, a room full of mirrors and laser light patterns move and hit the reflective surfaces. This installation leans into the mystery and sense of exploration one finds in a forest, and the boundaries of reality are tested in this space. Where are the edges of the room? Which light is real, and which is a reflection? Which version of you, on one of the many mirrors, should you engage with?
Water is another nature-inspired metaphor in Mirror Mirror and is the centrepiece of “River of Time” – a 9m-long interactive stream filled with joyful, naive, chromatic imagery; it’s almost a hallucinogenic space. As participants jump between rocks, which are scattered throughout the river, or get caught in a flow state watching the rippling of the stream, it makes you consider how your movements impact the installation… and perhaps how our movements impact nature as a whole.
‘The River of Time’. Photo: Tyr Liang Xplorer Studio
“Memory Storage” and “Intelligent Window” – which lead into one another – are unique demonstrations of the way artificial intelligence has made its way into our art and communication. Upon entering this section, participants are encouraged to answer three questions on their phones via a QR code.
In “Memory Storage”, your answers light up repetitively across industrial-like scaffolding and are accompanied by dynamic light patterns that move and fire to pulsing music. It’s an exciting sensation, thrilling even, to see something personal to you projected around this public space.
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“Intelligent Window” takes these same words and uses them as prompts to generate haiku poems and original artwork. This AI takes our language, meanings and memories – our human experiences – to create something completely original that unites us in a piece of poetry.
True to its title, Mirror Mirror is a reflection of our playfulness and curiosity as people, but also a reminder of how technology has morphed its way into our lives and how we have a lot to learn about ourselves through it. On the other hand, it also shows us that technology has a lot to learn from us, too. Every AI-generated piece or technological advancement starts with something human: a movement, a word, a hint of imagination.
Mirror Mirror is at the Illuminate Pavilion in Victoria Square / Tarntanyangga until July 30 as part of the Illuminate Adelaide festival.
Read more about the 2023 Illuminate Adelaide program here.
Art meets technology in Mirror Mirror. Photo: Tyr Liang Xplorer Studio
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