‘Who Are You?’ is a video installation that explores what happens to us when we make a close relationship with someone and suddenly discover that they are not quite who we thought they were. How do people create an outward projection of themselves? How does their performance change as we become more intimate with people?
The installation is a temporary room, about 11 meters long and 3 meters wide, with all walls and ceiling in white. Four meters from the length of the room is dedicated for the rear projection space, the rest is for the viewer's experience. The visitors are advised to enter one person at time. Entering the installation the visitor is asked to choose one of three characters they wish to meet, and press an 'intercom' button. The video of the character, back projected onto a screen, welcomes the visitor to the room. On closer approach to the screen, the projected character’s performance changes - the projection is triggered by proximity sensors across the room. The movements of the characters increase and become a dance performance, music becomes more intensive and the speech more relaxed and confident. The characters seem to be more open, more relaxed, more confident, as if they were making a relationship with the viewer. Once the viewer comes about one meter from the screen, the projection changes into an extreme close up of the character's face. Now the characters become 'tired', mysterious - the viewer discovers a different true about the characters.
‘Who Are You?’ explores the relations between video, the viewer’s physical body and architecture.
‘In my life I have met people whom I have trusted, admired and had a close relationship with. But later, once I had got to know them better, I discovered they suffered from mental disorders or addictions. This powerful and affecting experience has inspired me to produce ‘Who Are You?’
