A Whole New You

I decided to call my exhibit "A Whole New You." Since I used two-way acrylic, the user first sees himself (or "you") in the mirror, then his reflection is replaced by a different image (or a "new you"). This title is clearly displayed on the exhibit, in the hopes that the user will see it and become intrigued about its meaning and the exhibit's purpose.

There are also brief instructions posted on the front of the exhibit, as well as an equally brief explanation of how the two-way mirror works. I added these descriptions because I personally like having some words on an exhibit to guide and teach me as I interact with it. The way my exhibit is intended to be used is the following. The user first looks at the mirror with the drape covering the back and sees his reflection, as if he were looking into an ordinary mirror. Then, the user flips the drape over, covering himself and the front of the mirror while exposing the back of the exhibit to outside light. Because of the properties of the two-way acrylic that I used for this exhibit, the user can now easily see through the "mirror" to view a picture of Einstein posted in the back.

One of the biggest problems I had with the exhibit was its tendency to fall over when it was being used. I fixed this a bit by taping it to the table, but the force of repeatedly pulling the drape over the mirror put some strain on it. To fix this, I could strengthen the base of the exhibit, maybe by making it out of wood or another heavy, sturdier material. I could also replace the drape with a softer material that still blocks out light but is easier to move.

Another thing I noticed was that if light is shining directly onto the front of the mirror, it become slightly transparent and the surprise effect is lost, since the user is able to see the picture of Einstein at the beginning. As long as my exhibit is located in an environment with a controlled light source (i.e. not affected by the movement of the sun throughout the day), this is not a problem; however, it might be nice if I could ensure that this is never a problem.

To improve my exhibit I was thinking about making it more multi-user-friendly. If I removed the picture of Einstein and instead had museum visitors stand behind the exhibit as other users looked through the mirror, this might make the exhibit more interactive and allow for more exploration.

Some other ideas I had revolved around the combination of mirrors and water because I think the way the light is refracted by the water and reflected by the mirror can be fascinating. I wasn't able to experiment much because of the short time frame (and because water is messy!) but it would be interesting to play with that idea. This reminds me of Bryan's Northern Lights exhibit, and I wonder if water could be used to achieve something similar to the effect he had with the mylar?