καιρός remembered

Dream Stop

is the title of Gary Hill’s ingenious installation, which was on display at the 2016 Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Using 31 video cameras and an equal number of projectors, fitted with special mirrors and lenses, he creates a collage of projected images on the four walls of the large space, inviting us to pause for a moment and let our minds wander.

The tiny cameras are concealed within a metal frame shaped like a lotus flower, which hangs in the centre of the space. Viewers entering the room and walking around see themselves projected in the images on the walls. When we are filmed by cameras in public places, we may well see the cameras, but not the images they capture. Here, it is exactly the other way round.

In the images on the wall, we are confronted with ourselves – standing upright, lying horizontally or even upside down – as we move in and out of them depending on our path through the space. Each camera captures us against the backdrop of some of the images projected onto the wall, and the image captured by that camera is in turn projected onto one of the walls. All of this happens instantly and overlaps like the petals of a lotus, with a – yes, indeed – dreamlike result.

Photos of the week: Gary Hill, Dream Stop 2015-16, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016, Kerala, India 2016