Media Mirror (2005)

Jefferson Y. Han, Perceptive Pixel, Inc. Media Mirror is an interactive video installation, in which over 200 channels of live cable television are continuously arranged in real-time to form a mosaic representation of anyone that stands in front of it. The piece is intended to explore the bidirectional relationship each of us has with mass media. It attempts to illustrate how we are inexorably shaped by the media, while at the same time, how the media itself reflects the demands of our society. The piece is also simply meant to evoke an overwhelming sense of the sheer scale of the medium. When no user is present, the Media Mirror places itself into an autonomous mode, in which the piece forms mosaics of one of the live channels themselves. In effect, the mirror gets turned onto the media itself. Exhibited at the SIGGRAPH 2006 Art Gallery and at Wired's NextFest 2006. Permanent installations are scheduled for 2007.