Hopelessly mixed together

Project
Hopelessly mixed together was an installation where the participant can look inside a box completely covered with reflective paper. A sensor detects the movement inside the box and then records the participant as they are looking inside. After a few seconds, the recording is finished and the participant’s recording is placed within a grid, along with all the other participants who had looked inside the box before. The reflective space inside the box then shows a grid of all recordings that had passed, showing all participants mixed within the space.

Title and concept
The title came from a line by Edward Said in the documentary film Black Athena. I enjoyed the expressivity of it and how it subtly points to the recognition that all is one. I wanted to experiment with moving bodies in a confined space and to show how although we are uniquely different, as humans we are all interconnected and we all mirror each other.

Setup
The setup was done using PureData. The webcam would trigger a sensor which would then activate a timer during which the webcam would record the participant's movement inside of the box. Once finished the recording would be placed alongside a sequence of other participants' recordings who had come before and after. The box was constructed using wood and painted black on the outside.There was a small hole big enough for someone to fit their head inside, facing a monitor. The sides, front, top, and bottom were covered with reflective paper and the participant would be viewing the sequence of other recordings while their video was recorded.

Credits
Art Direction, Concept (by me), Visual programming (by me and Nicolas Maigret) , Installation setup (by me, Nicolas Maigret, and Amaury Remusat)