Daniel Rozin’s anthropomorphic “PomPom Mirror” features a synchronized array of 928 spherical faux fur puffs. Organized into a three-dimensional grid of beige and black, the sculpture is controlled by hundreds of motors that build silhouettes of viewers using computer-vision. Along its surface, figures appear as fluffy animal-like representations within the picture plane, which is made permeable by a ‘push-pull’ forward and backward motion of meshed ‘pixels’. Ghostly traces fade and emerge, as the motorized composition hums in unified movement, seemingly alive and breathing as a body of its own.
The PomPom mirror is one in a long series of similar interactive installations that utilize motorized arrays of moving objects like wooden pegs, trash, folding fans or even penguins, that generate moving silhouettes in response to movement. Obviously, a fan of the rad and senseless, the penguins is definitely one of my favourites.
Merging the geometric with the participatory, Rozin’s installations have long been celebrated for their kinetic and interactive properties. Grounded in gestures of the body, the mirror is a central theme of Rozin’s practice. In his art, surface transformation becomes a means to explore animated behavior, representation, and illusion.
Image Credits: thisiscolossal.com