Road to Nowhere – Zoetrope
concept, light art installation
THE CONCEPT
Road to Nowhere is a modern version of the early 19th century
invention Deadaleum or wheel of the devil, later renamed
Zoetrope, wheel of life.
Traveling on this magical wheel of life, juggling mind and heart,
one experiences that movement and time are just beautiful
optical illusions.
A hypnotic flickering light draws people to a large cylindrical
installation that seems to be rotating and standing still at the
same time.
5 bicycles are placed around the cylinder (red, yellow, green,
blue & purple) and invite people to participate in the installation.
Participation (cycling) influences the speed, colour and mood of
the work.
Cycling on one of the bikes or just standing around the spinning
cylinder of the zoetrope, the visitor will see a hallucinating
tableaux of moving, colliding and interacting objects and images,
challenging ones sense of reality.
The RGB strobe lights freeze the circular motion of this modern 3D zoetrope but by freezing motion it creates the illusion
of movement at the same time, bringing life to a sequence of 2 & 3D still images on the zoetrope creating an hallucinating
experience.
Traveling on this zoetropes endless road while juggling heart & mind, one has to contemplate if life as we perceive it is not
more than a sequence of still images, just a beautiful optical illusion.
