“objects in mirror AR closer than they appear” is a new media installation that destabilizes the distinction between virtual and physical objects and creates a philosophical playground to explore the shifting relationship between images, memories, and things. The project acts as a window into inner worlds, portals that transport us into memory, nostalgia, and absurdist fantasy all while exploring how technology can make this ephemeral experience visceral and immediate to the senses.

The advent and adoption of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies promises to radically destabilize our traditional distinction between virtual and physical objects. “objects in mirror AR closer than they appear” combines augmented reality technology with an immersive theater installation to explore this liminal space, inviting audiences to reflect on the relationship between new media and archaic objects; 21st century technology and 19th century magic; memory and optical illusion.

The project is an archaeological dig: the site is the everyday heap of objects that surround each and every one of us — a massive, overwhelming pile of junk that describes in debris each of our personal histories. The installation becomes activated through chance, an audience’s curiosity, and their willingness to go along. By the end, the experience is orchestrated chaos — lines between fact/fiction, yours/theirs, installation/performance, subject/object are all undone.

Created by Graham Sack, Geoff Sobelle, John Fitzgerald, and Matthew Niederhauser
Installation Design by Steven Dufala
XR Creative Direction by Ricardo Laganaro