Schaukelapparat - Swing Apparatus

Video, mixed media, variable dimensions, 2009

The work combines a video with a moving mirror in two axis on a DIY machine. By synchronizing the video with the mirror movement, the person on the video is able to swing freely and exceeds the limitations of the “frame” of the video. The technology serves as prosthesis for the individual fulfillment of the protagonist.

The apparatus consists of two step-motors that move the mirror in a parabolic form. Two sensors in front of the machine trigger small light dots integrated in the video track. Every time one of the sensors will get light information of the video, a microcontroller executes the motor movements for the mirror. The synchronization between the video and the apparatus therefore is all but automatic and needs no more connections or technical inventions. The machine was constructed with recycled materials and found stuff; the electronic is DIY based on an Atmega16 Microcontroller.

The documentation video is from the exhibition “Fantasmagorias. La presencia de lo ausente” at the Museo de Historia y Antropología de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.