Take a step out of the grey, wintery Adelaide weather into the colourful, interactive world of Mirror Mirror, as part of the 2023 Illuminate Adelaide season.
By Tayla Ham - 25 July 2023
When you enter Mirror Mirror, you are faced with three coloured doors and a simple choice to make, red, blue or yellow?
With no right or wrong answer about which door to enter first, Mirror Mirror creates a non-linear experience unique to your journey in the exhibit. You’re entirely in control of where you travel throughout the space, as you are encouraged to explore and connect with the exhibition at your own pace.
Created by Moment Factory, a multimedia studio from Canada, Mirror Mirror is making its international debut at Illuminate Adelaide. Moment Factory has a strong history with the annual winter nights event. This year, they have also installed Resonate at the Botanic Gardens, continuing the story of their previous year's sold-out exhibit, Light Cycles.
Mirror Mirror was first showcased in Montreal in April 2023 and arrived at the Illuminate Pavilion in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga. The Illuminate Pavilion is a purpose-built, accessible location that offers visitors a visual and interactive experience.
Mirror Mirror explores the impact of our actions and the actions of others on the world around us.
The installation focuses on two significant themes: nature and artificial intelligence(AI).
The River of Time is a crowd favourite in the nature theme, especially among children. As you explore the river, the projections and the soundscape react to your movements.
Stepping on a flower can cause a ripple effect, leading to the explosion of hundreds of flowers.
Doesn’t this make you think about how your actions can cause ripple effects and environmental changes?
The floor pattern constantly transforms, making it a popular play area for children to freely run and jump, creating a delightful blend of shapes. Even adults are captivated by the ever-changing designs, walking around with their heads down. It's crucial to exercise caution in this room to avoid collisions, as there were definitely some near misses.
Alternatively, the Memory Storage and Intelligent Window rooms explore how AI can mimic human creativity.
Although the maze of scaffolding and flashing LED words in this room may seem overwhelming at first, the staff explains how the room and the QR codes on the floor operate to add your words to the exhibition's pool of words.
Poems are generated using AI technology and displayed in the Intelligent Window at the end of the Memory Storage room. Seeing your words become a part of the exhibit can be thrilling, but this space is marketed as a separate room. Compared to the other rooms in Mirror Mirror, it's the most underwhelming.
If you spend time wandering through the exhibition, Mirror Mirror can take over an hour to complete as there is much to interact with and reflect upon.
Overall, Mirror Mirror is a thoughtful demonstration of how art and technology can unite to create a place to explore and reflect on you can impact the world around you.
Mirror Mirror is running until July 30th 2023 as part of Illuminate Adelaide.
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