I have always been drawn to mirrors of all kinds; shiny reflective surfaces, which can show you everything, or nothing at all. Reflecting back the image we see of ourselves, and where left is right, and right is left.
Mirrors can have at times, what can only be explained as having a strange 'window' effect. For example, if you stare at yourself in the mirror for too long, you may not recognize who you are. The feeling of seeing yourself, and not recognizing who you are. Let's just call it, 'enhanced self actualization to the point of non-recognition.'
Have no idea what I am talking about? Try it at home. Stand in front of your favorite mirror, then just stare into your own eyes, stare at your face, look at yourself, really relax and stare.
You will experience a strange separation of mind and body, maybe only for a moment. I have no idea how to explain it scientifically, but I am sure plenty of psychology studies have been done looking at this effect.
All around my apartment, there are mirrors - strategically placed. Some might call me mirror-obsessed. Okay, I am. But I love how they open up a room, making it feel bigger and brighter than it really is. How they allow light to reflect off the walls, and other surfaces. How they allow us to see beyond our own dimension, in what we perceive as a 3D world.
The science of light, angles, refraction and mirrors are inextricably tied together for me. Remember, when you were a child, and placed two mirrors facing one another, and could see to infinity in both directions? The reflection of the reflection, of the reflection, of the reflection, ad infinitum. No beginning, and no end. Visualizing infinity, and getting lost in the image which you are a part of. It always made me wonder, and question why I could not see the end, or if there were other 'dimensions' in our own world, which we cannot see. I wanted an answer to my very own mirror conundrum.
And, to television I turned.
Back in the 1980s, on the television channel, Nickelodeon, there was a show, "Mr. Wizard."
He was the Bill Nye "The Science Guy" before Bill Nye had a show. For one of the host, Mr. Wizard's tricks, he showed a young child, whose head was seemingly floating in mid-air, like a disembodied head. Then, he showed the audience how the optical illusion was performed. You guessed it, with mirrors. That 'trick' not only make me realize that I loved science, and particularly science on TV, but it fed my fascination with mirrors.
And I am not alone. For the book and reading obsessed, I have put together a list of famous authors who have written about mirrors:
"A Hand-Mirror" by Walt Whitman (poem)
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-hand-mirror/
"Mirror" by Sylvia Plath (poem)
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8498499-Mirror-by-Sylvia-Plath
"The Silver Mirror" by Charles Bukowski (poem)
http://bukowski.net/manuscripts/displaymanuscript.php?show=poem1975-12-18-the_silver_mirror.jpg&workid=3484
"Through the Looking-Glass" by Lewis Caroll (book) - entire book free online here
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm
Mirrors can have at times, what can only be explained as having a strange 'window' effect. For example, if you stare at yourself in the mirror for too long, you may not recognize who you are. The feeling of seeing yourself, and not recognizing who you are. Let's just call it, 'enhanced self actualization to the point of non-recognition.'
Have no idea what I am talking about? Try it at home. Stand in front of your favorite mirror, then just stare into your own eyes, stare at your face, look at yourself, really relax and stare.
You will experience a strange separation of mind and body, maybe only for a moment. I have no idea how to explain it scientifically, but I am sure plenty of psychology studies have been done looking at this effect.
All around my apartment, there are mirrors - strategically placed. Some might call me mirror-obsessed. Okay, I am. But I love how they open up a room, making it feel bigger and brighter than it really is. How they allow light to reflect off the walls, and other surfaces. How they allow us to see beyond our own dimension, in what we perceive as a 3D world.
The science of light, angles, refraction and mirrors are inextricably tied together for me. Remember, when you were a child, and placed two mirrors facing one another, and could see to infinity in both directions? The reflection of the reflection, of the reflection, of the reflection, ad infinitum. No beginning, and no end. Visualizing infinity, and getting lost in the image which you are a part of. It always made me wonder, and question why I could not see the end, or if there were other 'dimensions' in our own world, which we cannot see. I wanted an answer to my very own mirror conundrum.
And, to television I turned.
Back in the 1980s, on the television channel, Nickelodeon, there was a show, "Mr. Wizard."
He was the Bill Nye "The Science Guy" before Bill Nye had a show. For one of the host, Mr. Wizard's tricks, he showed a young child, whose head was seemingly floating in mid-air, like a disembodied head. Then, he showed the audience how the optical illusion was performed. You guessed it, with mirrors. That 'trick' not only make me realize that I loved science, and particularly science on TV, but it fed my fascination with mirrors.
And I am not alone. For the book and reading obsessed, I have put together a list of famous authors who have written about mirrors:
"A Hand-Mirror" by Walt Whitman (poem)
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-hand-mirror/
"Mirror" by Sylvia Plath (poem)
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8498499-Mirror-by-Sylvia-Plath
"The Silver Mirror" by Charles Bukowski (poem)
http://bukowski.net/manuscripts/displaymanuscript.php?show=poem1975-12-18-the_silver_mirror.jpg&workid=3484
"Through the Looking-Glass" by Lewis Caroll (book) - entire book free online here
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm