Blind Spot
Installation / performance
November 14th, 2009
Teatr Nowy, Warsaw
18:00 - 22:00
Blind Spot (now Atomic 5.1), is an installation for 5 stroboscopic lights. Set in a large empty space in a circular formation, the lamps are programed to go off at different times and in varied rhythms in a sequence lasting several minutes and continuously looped over the evening. The spectator is invited to observe from a distance and/or to enter the circle, becoming a performer for the other spectators entering and leaving the exhibition space. The lights illuminate the room and the figure(s) in the space at different angles, producing a sensation of movement. The set-up literally makes the room and the people in the space seem to be dancing.
With the strobe effect images are retained by the retina and are held in place by the same "visual editor" that eliminates the blind spot. The viewer focuses on the last position of anyone he or she is looking at and is somewhat disoriented when the next flash shows the person's new position. The mind attempts to link the images, producing a continuity where there is none. Using multiple sources of light at different angles, a change of position is perceived even if there has been no real displacement. Working with depth, real movement can seem to happen on different planes and in unnatural succession. The installation (and performance) plays with these real and perceived movements.
Commissioned by Teatr Nowy, Blind Spot was realized during a week-long residency in Warsaw and presented as a project-in-process on November 14th, 2009.
Performed by: Ramona Nagabczyńska
