Karina Smigla-Bobinski

In Smigla-Bobinskis „bright cave“ the visitor are alienated in an intimate situation. The strange confrontation with
the personal shadow and the appearance of a stranger inside of it creates a tension between individuality conceived
within the own silhouette and the presence of an image of somebody else. This is emphasized by the slight
movements of the video stranger, who seems more alive by this than a mere photo could ever achieve. It is somehow
irritating to be unable to communicate with the shadow person. One can only stand still and gaze at the
other.
Mirror scene with Groucho and Harpo
Marx Brothers „Duck Soup“
Just as in the classical slapstick of Marx Brothers, where two comedians play each other‘s mirror reflexion on each
side of an empty frame, the visitor can mime video persons posture, movement and attitude, differences and the
asynchronism of these two ‚mirror images‘ produces a confusion. Thus the visitor changes the sides and takes
over the role of the image or copy. On the other side one is able to take the position of a creator: letting the other
person appear or disappear at will.
It is possible to see it as a reminiscence of the theory of the Looking Glas Phase by Jacques Lacan. The reflexion in
the mirror is gradually recognized by small children as their own reflexion, as a part of their own identity. This phase
is an important step towards self awareness. The ‚opposite image‘ in the mirror, that is at the same time strange
and totally dependent on oneself, could be understood as a proposition for an alternative identity.
The contemporary disourse on the identity crisis within society is obviously also incorporated into the concept.
The loss of conventional roles elicits a search for individuality and originality which leads to a general confusion
about identity. Different Identities get mixed, overlapped and it is hard to find a distinction between identity and
personality.
Side by side to the mentioned possibilities of interpretation the shadow-images are not alterable by the viewer, they
are not illusions in the platonic sense, but hermetically sealed in traces of the Others, both representing the strange
and the complexity of the perceived white and pure light, which is not only physical energy but also possesses
transcendental qualities.