In collaboration with hand-blown glass sculptor Agelos Papadakis, Mital’s artwork “Memory” explores the representation of a neural network in an immersive augmented sculptural installation with responsive, real-time projection mapped visuals. The installation unexpectedly reflects images of viewers back to themselves and eventually integrates their experience of witnessing the sculpture into a collective “memory” of participants, highlighting the interconnectedness of human experiences and the way our minds process and store information.
The “neurons,” hand blown out of glass and linked together with galvanized metal chains, are augmented with subtle projection onto the sandblasted surfaces. Hidden inside one of the “neurons” was a camera that would record participants as they peered into the projections. Suddenly, they would be surprised to see a movie clip of themselves projected onto the surface, interspersed into the memories of other unsuspecting participants. The bondaged galvanized metal together with the rigidity of the sculpted glass evokes an uneasiness that when paired with the surveillance of the sculpture, seems to offer a warning for the very technologies it portrays: an autonomous facial recognition system.
Though perhaps for the viewer, it is too late, as at this point, the viewer has already become integrated into the machine of the “memories” of the augmented sculpture. Over time, the piece would reconfigure itself and reveal memories of other participants who had visited and peered at the projections themselves.
The installation was exhibited across Europe with excellent reception, including a feature at Kinetica Art Fair 2010, the Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh Scotland, in an exhibition entitled “Passing Through” at James Taylor Gallery in 2009, and the Athens Video Art Festival in 2011.
Collaborators
Agelos Papadakis