Tuesday 28 October 2014

Becoming a Bird

The Treachery of Sanctuary is an interactive installation by Chris Milk that combines motion capture and projection to create a sophisticated but beautifully intuitive update on shadow puppetry.

Stand in front of the triptych of screens and, as you watch, your shadow transforms into a great bird, gaining huge, Angel-of-Death like wings that respond to your every motion.







It's part mesmerising, part terrifying to see your winged alter ego rising up from the mirrored floor.




But before you can get too caught up in this shadowy persona, your bird avatar starts to disintegrate, each piece flying away and becoming part of the ghostly flock that hovers around the edges of the installation.



If you follow this link to the story behind the piece's creation, you can trace its origins back to the cave paintings at Lascaux.  We are fascinated with shadows.

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The Treachery of Sanctuary was on show as part of Digital Revolution at the Barbican in London and can be seen next at the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology.  

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