This article was first published in the October 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Interactive artist Dominic Harris turns his audience into artworks. "I like to flip the role of the viewer into that of the performer," says the 38-year-old Londoner. "The art is in the delight that manifests when the viewer interacts with each piece."
Take his Vanity Mirror, a kaleidoscopic wall of 180 LED screens and 180 embedded cameras inspired by the narcissism of the social-media age. "It's the selfie, magnified," he says. Harris's other works also play with sensory input, using touch and movement.
Stained Glass: Arboretum uses transparent LED displays to recreate a traditional stained-glass window; the glass houses a plant that grows and changes in response to the viewer's gaze.
A trained architect, Harris founded a design practice, Cinimod Studio, in 2007, which creates installations for clients such as Microsoft and BMW. But he became frustrated with the industry's glacial pace. "As technology has advanced, art has stagnated," he says. "It's frustrating; if you go around Art Basel or other major fairs, there's very little innovation." His response: to help create PHOS ART + DESIGN, a gallery in London's Mayfair for interactive art. The space is built on a 500mm grid of panels which hides connectivity and power for audiovisual pieces, plus an eight-channel sound system. He will open it on September 18 with a solo show. "It's designed for the next generation of art," he says.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
