A flat black disk hovers in front of a white wall.
An oily iridescent lens, in the center of the disk, shows a distorted reflection.
From an angle, the flat black disk is suspended in front of a round mirror.
A person peers through the lens into the mirror behind the black disk.
Close-up of the lens at the center of the black disk.
The reflection appears orange-pink and blue-green.
A hazy, scratched image of the black disk.
The photo has been taken through the lens, an image of the mirror behind the disk.
"It is common to think that the opposite of black is white: a surface that reflects all wavelengths equally, as a black surface absorbs them all. When an imaginary pure black surface absorbs all wavelengths, it annihilates differences between them. And so does an imaginarily pure white, subordinating all wavelengths to its own purity. Thus there is not as much difference between white and black as we might suppose: both draw difference into unity.
...[One might suggest] the opposite of black is not white but a mirror reflection, which reflects each wavelength in its own form ... Against black's unity, and against its blinding of vision, we cast as its dialectical pair the shattering and splintering of light, its endless multiplication."
Sean Cubitt, excerpt from The Practice of Light: A Genealogy of Visual Techniques from Prints to Pixels
Sean Cubitt, excerpt from The Practice of Light: A Genealogy of Visual Techniques from Prints to Pixels
If the Opposite of Black is a Mirror
Wood, lens, mirror.
2018 | 78" x 42" x 42" x 36"
Wood, lens, mirror.
2018 | 78" x 42" x 42" x 36"