Mirrors: Wooden and Otherwise

In Windows and Mirrors by Jay David Bolter and Diane Gromala, Daniel Rozin's interactive art piece, 'Wooden Mirror' is described as "a paradox ... a mirror made of the unlikely material of wood ... a digital artifact" [1].   Rozin's web page shows links to many mirrors, including the wooden one, with QuickTime movies for quite a few of the artworks. I'd have liked more detailed descriptions of how the mirrors work but the images are quite good and, since there are a good number of separate artwork pages, I suppose he couldn't go into great detail for each one.

One of the works, 'Paint Cam', listed under "Video Painting", is truly interactive, if you have Shockwave installed. It enables you to paint with images from webcams "from around the world". A problem I encountered was that the sites kept asking to be allowed to be seen. Part of the experience, I think, given the need for caution about allowing access. Besides, it offers a chance to see where the the cameras are situated.

[1] Windows and Mirrors : Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency. MIT Press, 2003. p. 32. The link I give above to the title is on the MIT site and has a few sample chapters. The Google Book entry has no preview pages but does have a few reviews and other links. Searching the title through the WorldCat link on the sidebar of this blog will find locations of libraries where you can borrow the book. I bought the book years ago and I would certainly recommend it as providing a brief history of the Web and a description of digital art at the time the book was published, especially at SIGGRAPH 2000.