Shadow, by Adam Frank in collaboration with Zack Booth Simpson, projects a disembodied, autonomous, human shadow on the ground. This “living” shadow attempts to merge itself with the viewer’s real shadow.
If you run away, the shadows will follow. If you move towards the shadows, they will retreat. But if you stay relatively still, the shadows will slowly approach. The shadows will then position their feet directly on top of yours. This act merges tyour own shadows with the invisible figure. Once merged, the virtual shadows disappear.
Our shadows are with us constantly yet we pay little attention to them. These shadows are the absence of light due to our presence. Shadow merges viewer and artwork, the real and the virtual, into one entity. The feeling of both the presence and absence of another human being is visceral and ghostly. In a sense, this piece functions as a quiet, interactive, anonymous memorial.
Check also Lumen, a stainless steel shadow projector.
Related: Tool’s life, Lies, all lies, 3 minutes2.