Mirror Shape Play
Mirror Shape Play is an interactive exhibition that combines visual arts and science to create an unconventional playground where children can explore, experiment and imagine together. The exhibition takes inspiration from anamorphic art; a technique that uses light, reflection and perception to alter how the world looks.
Mirror Shape Play consists of a series of three-dimensional objects that surround cylindrical mirrors. The green benches, pink pillows and the carpet are designed to look straight and rectangular in the mirror. As a result, their forms are curved and distorted in reality.
We first came across anamorphic art when visiting the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. They have a great collection of toys from different periods in history including anamorphic toys, which consist of morphed images that look “normal” in a cylindrical mirror. We got very excited by the science of creating morphed objects using 3d drawing tools and circular grids to figure out their shapes.
When a child or adult starts interacting with the playground, reality seems to switch. The objects look perfectly rectangular and "normal" in the mirror, but the person is deformed. With Mirror Shape Play at Orleans House Gallery we wanted to encourage open-ended play. The carpet and the benches are stationary but the pink shapes are moveable. We want to encourage young people to take ownership of the gallery and make the gallery a welcoming place for young families.
Mirror Shape Play is an installation based at Orleans House Gallery and open to the public from the 24th June to the 11th September 2022.