On the Wall

Daniel Rozin is a mirror artist. You haven’t heard of many mirror artists because they’re all down at the craft fair, gluing mosaics and listening to Steppenwolf. Rozin isn’t like that. He takes the weirdly reflecting funhouse mirror as his cue, then heads to Best Buy for materials. His “mechanical mirrors” reflect using hidden video cameras, playing with your head unlike anything at the midway, because the mirrors themselves are made out of stuff like shiny balls, pegs, wood, and pieces of trash. He also makes mirrors that use software, which interpret your reflection as it sees fit — rendered in snowflakes, for example. Sometimes his art uses actual mirrors, though broken or hung or repeated in such a way to confound your expectations. In one piece at the exhibit “Reflections,” the mirror is broken but your reflection isn’t. In another, the viewer becomes a squadron of munching Pac-Men. Stand still in front of Shaking Time Mirror, and a crust forms over you; move, and it flakes off. Rozin hasn’t figured out how to make your face melt, but it’s only a matter of time.
June 19-Sept. 20, 2009