lorenz raab

saving Narcissus is an interactive installation or piece of furniture, which aims to save us from our narcissistic affections. The initial point of this work is the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus. In this myth the youngling Narcissus is cursed with insatiable self-love. In consequence he falls in love with with his own mirror image while drinking from a small creek. He cannot break away from his reflection, although he realizes, that he is gazing at himself. Finally he dies on the creeks bank in front of his mirror image. Like in this myth, the mirror has been a strong symbol through all cultures. It stands both for vanity and self-awareness. On this basis the mirror or the time spent in front of a mirror is an indicator for the self-love or narcissism of the beholder. The own image gets manipulated as long as it fulfills the own standards. In the digital world this phenomena can be seen as well. Here the mirror is replaced by a camera. The approach of saving Narcissus xis to save us from the narcism that is dozing in everyone of us and draw attention towards it. One of the key stages of the myth is, when Narcissus is recognizing himself and his tear are blurring the mirror image. Saving Narcissus is picking up this moment and s reversing it. The mirror is blurring to forward the self-awareness. The glance of the beholder is taken by a webcam in the mirror. If the beholder is is biding to long in front of his reflection , the mirror starts to fog up, similar to the blurred creek. The beholders eyes get blackened out by a band of water. Through the fogging also the part of the self-awareness in the myth gets readable in the mirror. The mirror image gets blurred and the beholder, quasi Narcissus, is save from himself. actor: Dominic Eulenfeld | februar 2014