"Flux"
an interactive installation

Flux by Pawel Janicki is an interactive installation exploring the social na private response to the problem of resource depletion. The installation combines humor with references to the language of horror in literature and cinema (by using the mirror as an object reflecting the hidden internal state, not just the physical reality). The interaction is particularly posthuman: it takes place between the water stream and the electronic media.

A monitor with hidden speakers is mounted instead of a mirror above the washbasin in the bathroom. Connected to video camera, computer equipped with custom-designed software and a sensor capturing the flow of water, it displays the reflection of the person like an ordinary mirror until the tap is unscrewed and water starts flowing. The image in the monitor is slowly changing into a constantly evolving audiovisual composition of the user’s portrait and footage partially recorded in Ii. Placed in a location unusual for art exposure, the work addresses the issue of depletion of natural resources and proposes a reference to the gesture of washing hands that is both practical and symbolic.

The work, through its location, is open to contact with casual people: the first contact with the installation takes place when visitor unscrews the water in the tap and cleans his or her hands. The visitor first perceives Flux as a disruption of reality - "breaking" the barrier leading to the parallel world.

The installation has been created and developed especially for the Art Ii Biennial STATES OF MATTER 2018.