reflected in an
unmarked space
Portrait, projected image and observation form a temporal field in which the distinction between performer and viewer remains unresolved.
CONCEPT
reflected in an unmarked space examines the unstable relationship between self-perception, projected images and observation. Between 1999 and 2001, Toni Kleinlercher invited 100 people—primarily artists, writers and composers—to take part in individual mirror sittings in his Vienna studio.
Each participant was asked to look into their own eyes while a selected 16 mm film was projected behind them. The films, largely educational films dating from the 1910s to the 1950s, remained invisible to the participants except as reflections. Reduced to the act of looking, the smallest facial movement became perceptible: a blink, a shifting gaze or an involuntary movement of the mouth.
The recordings were assembled into a continuous 24-hour video loop. At MUMOK in Vienna in 2002, participants returned to repeat their mirror sittings in the presence of visitors and of one another. The installation transformed the portrait into a temporal and communicative field in which the distinction between observer, performer and projected image remained unresolved.
VIDEO EXCERPT
75 SEC · SOUNDreflected in an unmarked space, 2002 · Web excerpt, 75 sec, sound
Original installation: 24-hour video loop and DVD projection
MIRROR SITTINGS
Each participant selected a film before the recording began. This choice constituted an initial form of self-description. The participant could see only the reflected projection while being recorded together with it.
Every film was selected twice, producing pairs based on the same projected material but shaped by different faces and reactions. Quotations were subsequently introduced as another layer of inscription. The resulting 100 video sequences function as micro-palimpests: image, reflection, portrait and language continually overwrite one another.
EDITION
reflected in an unmarked space
Limited edition of 100
Edition Splitter, Vienna
DVD and catalogue presented in a screenprinted film can. Each copy is individually numbered and signed by the artist.
RELATED ITERATIONS
2002–2005
The project subsequently developed through installations, performances and collaborative interventions. Each iteration introduced new participants and altered the conditions of observation and communication.
100 Grimace Performers Reflected
Brick-one · participatory multimedia event
under construction reflected
Suntory Hall · collaboration with Chikako Urata; music by On Mitani, Hirofumi Kanno and Zoran Jakovcic
reflexology reflected
Thailand Third New Media Arts Festival · participatory video installation
2003 · VIENNA reflected, Gallery Splitter · solo presentation
Multimedia event · video installation · live mirror sittings
2002
MUMOK — Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Austria
100
24-hour video loop · DVD projection · sound