OVERSIGHT

Viewers use their gaze to navigate through five stages of a mysterious narrative.

Stage One - Setting Focus

Viewers enter the installation space and encounter an almost motionless scene, nearly photographic. In this initial stage, when either viewer looks at certain areas in the scene -- a bird, a couple, a tree -- the objects reacts. The bird flaps its wings, the couple moves awkwardly, the tree blows in the wind. As the viewers engage the scene in this static activity, a man appears in the foreground with a still-photo camera pointing to the couple. If the two viewers look simultaneously at the camera, a picture is taken and the couple are noticeably upset and run towards us. We follow the photographer as he runs away.

Stage 1. Innocent voyeurism in the park. This still from BLOW-UP serves as the template for the opening scene.

Stage Two - Navigation

The viewers are now in a textured 3D scene inside a studio apartment. A long stare out the window causes the sun to go down and night to fall. A quick glance at the light fixtures changes the lighting in the room. At the same time, the viewers learn to navigate through the virtual space. If, for instance, Viewer A is looking out the window and Viewer B is looking at the door, the camera flies towards the window and swivels towards the door. In this way, one viewer is the acknowledged "leader" and determines the WHAT the camera is looking at (the ORIENTATION of the camera), while the other viewer manages camera POSITION.

Stage 2. Dark-Room Entrance.

Stage Three - Reversed Navigation

By "flying" the camera around with their sight, the viewers eventually approach the door of the dark-room -- once both viewers direct their gaze at the door knob, the door opens and they enter. Like before, they can individually activate portions of scene -- photographs get developed, the photographer moves about. Also like before, when they both light upon the correct hotspots, they can collaboratively navigate through the space -- however the roles have reversed: Viewer A positions the camera and Viewer B orients the view. The viewers explore the dark-room dynamicallly until they are able to position the point-of-view where they can see the picture which the photographer is working on. They zoom into the photo and proceed to stage four.

Stage 3. Inside the Dark-Room.

Stage Four - Blow-Up

The viewers are now staring at blown-up photograph of the original park scene. This time they must collaborate to zoom into the image -- when they both stare at the same spot, the picture zooms into that spot, when they both look towards the edges of the frame, the picture zooms out. When one is looking at the center and the other looking away, nothing happens. In order to progress to the next stage, both participants must follow the gaze of the woman and find the hidden weapon. Once they are both looking, they are translated to the last stage.

Stage 4. The Blow-Up

Stage Five - Final Confrontation

The whole screen is now a close-up of the photograph, but the image is highly distorted. The image is clearly revealed only when both viewers look away from the center, so they can only see the mysterious man from their peripheral vision. As they look away, the image continues to clarify and zoom into the man in the car until an entirely new scene is found in the reflection of his eye. If they look back towards the center, the image loses clarity -- it is, therefore, impossible to fully comprehend the nature of the final scene, except out of the corner of the eye. Click HERE for a video representation of this effect.

Stage 5. A Dangerous Encounter

Viewers use their gaze to navigate through five stages of a mysterious narrative.
Stage One - Setting Focus Viewers enter the installation space and encounter an almost motionless scene, nearly photographic. In this initial stage, when either viewer looks at certain areas in the scene -- a bird, a couple, a tree -- the objects reacts. The bird flaps its wings, the couple moves awkwardly, the tree blows in the wind. As the viewers engage the scene in this static activity, a man appears in the foreground with a still-photo camera pointing to the couple. If the two viewers look simultaneously at the camera, a picture is taken and the couple are noticeably upset and run towards us. We follow the photographer as he runs away.	Stage 1. Innocent voyeurism in the park. This still from BLOW-UP serves as the template for the opening scene.
Stage Two - Navigation The viewers are now in a textured 3D scene inside a studio apartment. A long stare out the window causes the sun to go down and night to fall. A quick glance at the light fixtures changes the lighting in the room. At the same time, the viewers learn to navigate through the virtual space. If, for instance, Viewer A is looking out the window and Viewer B is looking at the door, the camera flies towards the window and swivels towards the door. In this way, one viewer is the acknowledged "leader" and determines the WHAT the camera is looking at (the ORIENTATION of the camera), while the other viewer manages camera POSITION.	Stage 2. Dark-Room Entrance.
Stage Three - Reversed Navigation By "flying" the camera around with their sight, the viewers eventually approach the door of the dark-room -- once both viewers direct their gaze at the door knob, the door opens and they enter. Like before, they can individually activate portions of scene -- photographs get developed, the photographer moves about. Also like before, when they both light upon the correct hotspots, they can collaboratively navigate through the space -- however the roles have reversed: Viewer A positions the camera and Viewer B orients the view. The viewers explore the dark-room dynamicallly until they are able to position the point-of-view where they can see the picture which the photographer is working on. They zoom into the photo and proceed to stage four.	Stage 3. Inside the Dark-Room.
Stage Four - Blow-Up The viewers are now staring at blown-up photograph of the original park scene. This time they must collaborate to zoom into the image -- when they both stare at the same spot, the picture zooms into that spot, when they both look towards the edges of the frame, the picture zooms out. When one is looking at the center and the other looking away, nothing happens. In order to progress to the next stage, both participants must follow the gaze of the woman and find the hidden weapon. Once they are both looking, they are translated to the last stage.	Stage 4. The Blow-Up
Stage Five - Final Confrontation The whole screen is now a close-up of the photograph, but the image is highly distorted. The image is clearly revealed only when both viewers look away from the center, so they can only see the mysterious man from their peripheral vision. As they look away, the image continues to clarify and zoom into the man in the car until an entirely new scene is found in the reflection of his eye. If they look back towards the center, the image loses clarity -- it is, therefore, impossible to fully comprehend the nature of the final scene, except out of the corner of the eye. Click HERE for a video representation of this effect.	Stage 5. A Dangerous Encounter