Jordana Maisie

The Real Thing 2008

Project description

The kaleidoscope is a long-standing popular optical illusion that reminds us of the childhood awe of watching colours and shapes transform with the turn of a wrist. Conceptually, it conjures up notions of seeing and a viewer that is both subject to, and implicit in, the transient nature of what is seen. As a metaphor this enchanting mechanism evokes the artist's conscious play with the viewer as witness, (co)creator and interpreter of 'truth'.

The Real Thing, continues my exploration of the ways in which technology is constantly shifting the relationships between physical and digital space. My large-scale kaleidoscope has been created with digital technology and yet without the tangible, physical realm inhabited by the viewer's body, it simply cannot function. The work draws on the established history of the apparatus, a representative technology that plays with the notion of seeing. Here the viewer is implicit in the act. Like most of my work, they must be present and active for the work to 'happen'. The Real Thing is only functional and fluid when it is being viewed and interacted with by the viewer - they are therefore encouraged by the very nature of the work to experience a heightened awareness of their own physicality.