Reflections

Something has been broken. Benjamin writes of the loss of the aura through the mechanical reproduction of art itself. The aura represents the originality and authenticity of a work of art that has not been reproduced. The destruction of tradition means the destruction of authenticity.
With the introduction of the camera something has been broken. I used the image of a broken mirror as the destruction of authenticity, which gives us fragmentation, distortion and an unusual perspective of a reflection of a reality.




My work is based on an alternation of still images and video that returns repeatedly in a variety of manifestations. The subjects are always positioned in front of the mirror, where they are forced to interact directly with reality. Initially they look at themselves in the mirror, around them we can see that there is movement, it is busy but it is silent, as they are concentrating on themselves, everything else around them is far away. Thus the mirror becomes a symbol of meditation in the relationship to time and space.. I tried to portray the imagination of the individual, and its potential to inhabit, reclaim or animate an idea or a space in order to create a new and subversive space .
My research began in the tension between image and self (personality) in the contemporary world.
Contemporary society is now saturated with fragmented and distorted abstractions of reality. Just look at any newsstand on any street and you will see that every magazine cover presents such distortions.

"The painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web”. (Walter Benjamin, Illuminations, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction)

During my research I have discovered that an extreme manipulation and enlargement of an image can abstract the reality. As a result of this the photograph can be a new form of hallucination, that it is fake in the perception and real in the time, as a broken mirror can fragment, distort and modify your unconscious thoughts.
In conclusion I think that my fascination with the manipulation of the momentary image, fixed by the camera, drove me to question the authenticity of images and at the same time their mutability.

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