2016
Installation
Two projections, computer, speakers, two-way mirror
their places two sacred texts, the Bible and the Quran, on facing walls. Each wall carries a projected 5 × 5 grid. On one side, a quote from the Bible is typed out letter by letter and read aloud by a computerized voice; on the other, a quote from the Quran unfolds in the same way.
The grid is built from the text itself. Every three letters of a quote are converted from ASCII values into an RGB color, and each color fills one square of the grid. Both sides fill at the same speed and begin at the same moment, but because the quotes differ in length, the two readings soon fall slightly out of step. When a grid is full, it clears and begins again with the next quote.
A two-way mirror hangs between the walls, lit by both grids at once. It reflects the two projections back onto each other, overlapping and distorting them. Visitors can move freely between the walls, come close to either text, or sit before the mirror, where the two readings and their own reflection appear together in the same broken field of color.
their places two sacred texts, the Bible and the Quran, on facing walls. Each wall carries a projected 5 × 5 grid. On one side, a quote from the Bible is typed out letter by letter and read aloud by a computerized voice; on the other, a quote from the Quran unfolds in the same way.
The grid is built from the text itself. Every three letters of a quote are converted from ASCII values into an RGB color, and each color fills one square of the grid. Both sides fill at the same speed and begin at the same moment, but because the quotes differ in length, the two readings soon fall slightly out of step. When a grid is full, it clears and begins again with the next quote.
A two-way mirror hangs between the walls, lit by both grids at once. It reflects the two projections back onto each other, overlapping and distorting them. Visitors can move freely between the walls, come close to either text, or sit before the mirror, where the two readings and their own reflection appear together in the same broken field of color.
