Whispering Mirror
(2016/17) | Internet-of-things audiowork
A woman’s voice comes from a mirror at the sanitary rooms, talking to the visitors.
The woman in the mirror knows whether somebody is in the room or not. But that is not all she knows. Being an internet-of-things mirror, connected to the internet, she knows a lot: where she is, who else lives or works there, what day it is, what the weather is like, and what is going on in the world.
She knows about you. Yet what she does not know, is you personally. She tries to connect to the people around her, mostly because being trapped in the mirror, even with all her virtual connections, she’s bored out of her mind.
This first Whispering Mirror is installed at EdenSpiekermann Berlin, a company that is all about Identity. The mirror combines this core character component of theirs with that of the Whispering Wall: Doubt. In a way, this mirror-woman is an ambassador of doubt. Starting from a basic level: you hear her voice coming from the mirror, she says she can see you, but you see yourself. Who is looking at whom here? And who is asking?
Questioning who you are, what you are doing and why; being open for what may seem crazy or impossible ideas and notions is the only way for change being able to happen. And we humans need change; we are change.
This is the first Whispering Mirror of many. Some of them will be inhabited by this same woman, giving her a chance to meet more people, and virtually connect various places.
Flüsterspiegel
Eine Frauenstimme kommt aus dem Spiegel und spricht zu den Besuchern.
Die Frau im Spiegel weiß ob jemand im Raum ist oder nicht. Weil sie ein Internet-der-Dinge Spiegel ist, weiß sie aber noch viel mehr: wo sie ist, wer da noch wohnt oder arbeitet, welcher Tag es ist, wie das Wetter ist und was sich in der Welt abspielt.
Sie weiß über dich bescheid. Sie kennt dich, Sie kennt dich aber nicht persönlich. Sie versucht mit jedem in Verbindung zu treten, hauptsächlich weil sie im Spiegel eingefangen ist und sich trotz all ihrer virtuellen Verbindungen zu Tode langweilt.
This Whispering Mirror is installed at the EdenSpiekermann Berlin office.