“Mercurial Refractions” by Jim Campbell, Elliot Anderson

Title:

Mercurial Refractions

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Medium:

Video

Artist Statement:

This installation creates a dynamic “global picture” by intertwining weather information, satellite images, interactive video discs, interactive sound and viewers’ movements. Current weather reports for cities throughout the Northern hemisphere are regularly accessed through the Internet. The weather information is processed and controls video disc players. The video consists of short narratives of a figure moving about a room and is projected as the shadow side of the “globe”. Hourly satellite images of the earth are retrieved from geo-stationary satellites and are projected as the lit side of the “globe”. A moving “atmosphere” of video noise traverses the surface of the global image. The viewers’ movements create perturbations in the noise sending patterns floating across the surface. These patterns reveal an underlying video image which changes the contents of the room?