How do mirror reflection and projection alter our perception of body and mind?

What kind of self-perception is constructed in post-digital interaction?

I intend to explore the correlation between self and space by digitally manipulating mirror images to discover how our perception and self-perception change when looking into a mirror with digitally manipulated reflections. By using digital video techniques combined with live-video elements, I aim to extend the classic function and meaning of mirrors by developing digital hybrid mirror images that reflect a (postdigital) state from an intersection or combination of the analog body (viewer) and digital space (environment), termed postdigital mirrors. By creating postdigital mirrors and mirror images that integrate viewers through the use of video technology into the reflection, I explore the „constructions of reality“ and possible changes in our perception of reality and self-perception. A reflection in a digital mirror creates a confrontation with one’s own observation. The generated visual worlds lead to altered possibilities of self-observation and expression, ultimately changing the perception of one’s own actions, thoughts, and feelings. This artistic research project can be seen as a tool to change our perspectives and observe ourselves as observers, gaining new insights into perception from this approach.

Drawing from the idea of heterotopia, a concept developed by philosopher Michel Foucault to describe certain cultural, institutional, and discursive spaces that are somehow different from the usual, I create „other“ artificial living spaces as virtual mirror backgrounds as the basis for this artistic research. Foucault uses the term heterotopia to describe spaces that have more layers of meaning or relationships to other places. With this idea as a foundation, I aim to enrich, change, and adapt the artistic and scientific method in the process of my work. The setup of the installation environments, which I summarize under the term postdigital mirrors, can be visualized both as projections and on monitors and other displays.

I strive to explore and expand the roles of individuals in participatory and networked forms of society, enhancing these roles with additional material and visualizing them from a new perspective. The goal is to develop installative settings in which one can see oneself as part of film actions that tell narrative stories. Through digital mirrors, I virtually place the viewer in different environments and storylines, allowing them to observe themselves. In this way, the observer gets a temporary glimpse into a system outside their own perception. The viewer becomes the first-person narrator and seemingly also a passive observer in the reflection on digital screens. These reflections relate to the visual universes that are stuck in the minds of the viewers. This approach should be recognized as a stimulating impulse to gain a new form of self-perception and find new insights about the context of humanity in the habitat we are embedded in.

Normally, we perceive ourselves through others and observe others through media. Mirrors and media were primarily invented to create body images outside of ourselves. Thus, self-perception increasingly arises in media and virtual spaces. It’s impossible for reality to exist independently of humans; it requires instead that people contribute their part to the composition of reality. It’s a question of how cultural concepts and confrontations with technological transformations can be invented, leading us to the possibility of different uses of media technologies. Self-extended mirrors attempt to explore and visualize this paradigm shift, as my work visualizes a new relationship of observation and the things we see.