The projects presented at Afterimage use the “bleaching” phenomenon as an interaction process. Our retinas have photoreceptors that change when struck by light. Under normal light levels the pigments in the photoreceptors are not drastically affected and recover in a short time. However, prolonged exposure to a light source bleaches these pigments to a point where they are unable to respond to any other change of light for several seconds. In this short time we experience the image as if it was printed on our retinas. This optical illusion is known as an afterimage. During this time, wherever we cast our gaze, this image will appear.

In Mind Frame, the audience discovers and recreates images in empty picture frames.

“The visitor is invited to hang any of five frames on a wall. In each, they see an abstract moving image composed of white dots. After the array of dots stops moving, an afterimage of a familiar painting is revealed in the otherwise blank frame. The moving dots create a more complex afterimage, ‘exposing’ the eye like a camera to create darker and more vivid areas. The visitor doesn’t see just the afterimage, but a combination of the afterimage and the original painting from their own memory.

The array of dots is a very vague representation of the original image and the afterimage it creates is not very clear. But regardless, the audience perceives a well-defined impression of the subject. This happens because the afterimage subconsciously invokes the original image from their memory, neurologically combining it with the image from the eye. The experience is created entirely in the mind from memories and a grid of glowing dots.”

Afterimage is an exhibition set up by Korean artist and designer Jaewook Shin, in collaboration with the Someth;ng collective (Jon Cambuel, Nagore Salaberria, Markus M. Quarta.)

On Fri 24th, Sat 25th Feb, 12pm – 8pm. Candid Gallery, London, (directly behind Angel Tube station.)