Your double my double our ghost
The installation acts a space for the consideration of intimacy and meditation– both alone and with others that may share the space – through the merging of the viewer’s own reflections articulated through a composition of shifting light and emerging sounds which fill an otherwise dark chamber. Functioning similarly to the classic funfair mirror– the flexible silver two-way mirror sheeting forming an ethereal hanging centrepiece– the work invites the viewer to consider representations of themselves which appear distorted and transient, and which merge with those around them to form ‘new presences’. In this sense the viewer may see themselves multiplied or doubled with another viewer, or find themselves alone in a rare moment of literal reflection providing a contemplative space or eliciting a hallucinatory fantasy bringing forth ideas in neuroscience around the Self and Other.

The mask of youth
The eyes of the latest portrait of Queen Elizabeth I follow you around the room. No, they really do. Mat Collishaw’s hyperrealistic mask of the Tudor queen comes to life, whirring and grimacing, to shock visitors in the shadowy former royal chambers of the Queen’s House. As the days darken, the effect will get spookier. The Virgin Queen’s dark eyes dart around nervously. Her mouth opens as if to speak but she cannot find the words. She is dazed by a future she can’t comprehend, a robot ghost staring in horror and doubt at her own painted image – Collishaw’s undead death mask has her eyes fixed on the Armada Portrait, painted in 1588 and a treasure of the Queen’s House after being meticulously restored.

Loop Drawing Machine
The Loop Drawing Machine is a kinetic sculpture that uses magnets and iron filings to draw on paper. The friction of the iron on the paper both makes marks on the paper and pulls the paper through the machine; drawing a loop on a loop of paper. A chamber and auto-feed replenishes the iron as the magnets revolve past the feeder. Eventually the paper becomes a completely darkened by the overlapping marks.

Camera Lucida: Sonochemical Observatory
Camera Lucida (chamber of light or lucidity) directly transforms sound waves into light emissions by means of a phenomenon known as sonoluminescence. After adapting to the darkness surrounding the installation, one gradually perceives the detailed configurations of glowing sound fields.