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IΩI (pronounced /ˈai/ˈsiː/ˈai/) , 2021, L.E.O. / FILOART
If we look at the history of mirrors and reflections, we can see different stages in the development of this phenomenon. The first possibility of reflection (as an effect), which was in nature, was down at the feet of the people: the reflection in the water of a river, lake, sea. Impressed by this phenomenon, later man developed a mirror that he could carry anywhere and see his own self-portrait. When mirrors could be mass-produced, they were usually hung at eye level. In modern times, mirrors were used in architecture as an aesthetic element and over time they towered over our heads, reaching to the ceiling.
The work
The work IΩI was made as a result of the search process for “WHERE IS I”. IΩI is a work that reflects the interior of itself and those in the space. This is the world’s first spherical mirror that reflects inward. The exterior of the IΩI work does not leave an impressive sight, as the work consists of a hanging gray sphere with a circular opening downwards, hanging in the middle of the room.
Only when the head gets through the opening into the interior of the spherical space does the viewer have the opportunity to experience the image of his own self in a form that has never experienced before. The work is to be entered and viewed individually because there is space only for one head. This allows the viewer to pause and focus on space and time.
When the viewers are in the IΩI, their heads are surrounded by the reflection of the self-portrait and thus the recipient stands in the middle of a room, surrounded by a layer of glass that keeps the head inside like an embryo. The form of the entire work has the same form as the visual organ of the viewer: that of an eyeball.
The act
Driven by human curiosity, viewer stick his heads into an opening in the object to experience something new. There expects him the surprise: It is its own self, the I, that is looking at him and he is looking at itself, but in a different form than usual, namely in a spatial form.
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*It is recommended that people with claustrophobia do not enter the IΩI.