Glimpse: activating an unoccupied shop front. 

Installation at General store, Fitzroy, 2006

Yoke Creative in collaboration with Eliza Downes and Phoebe Whitman

 

The design proposed an installation that activated the surface of the window through shadowplay light and projection.

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The installation operated in two modes, day and night. During daylight hours the window acted as a site of encounter with the outside surrounds. Projected shadows and reflections from the surrounding environment were mapped onto the surface of the door and glass window with matt black vinyl. Other domestic motifs (the window frame, and curtain were drawn onto the window surface. During the day hours the bright light outside and darkened area within altered the window surface to perform like a mirror,reflecting the moving surrounds of the active retail strip. In contrast the sparse graphics applied to the glass interrupt these moving reflections. The matt black motifs sit frozen like a stage set, giving a glimpse of the performance that would occur when darkness arrived.

At night as the streetscape became dark, onto the surface of the window an animated shadow play occurred. A nostalgic domestic scene of cardboard cutouts is arranged inside and over the duration of the night a series of spotlights activated by a timer turned on and off. The spotlights projected from various vantage points within the space onto the cutouts and in turn shifting their scale to distort the playful shadow forms.