Art + Science = Bending The Light
Next Generation Anamorphic ART
A Very Dutch Ghost
Currently finalist at 2023 Wynne Prize
ART GALLERY OF NSW
Experience the Holographic Effect
A Very Dutch Ghost is an experiential sculptural work developed through a collaboration between Louis Pratt and Nico Pietroni.
The curvature and optic distortion of the mirror has been accounted for in the creation of the sculpture so that the reflected image appears correct. At the same time, the reflected image hovers in front of, rather than behind, the mirror. The audience forms an essential part of the work. The holographic or ghost-like appearance of the reflection results from the interplay between the mirror, sculpture and the eye of the viewer.
As the work uses the latest computing tools and technology, its production is only possible in our time. Yet it also draws from centuries of art history. It references Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh's painting Head of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette (1886) and Hans Holbein's painting The Ambassador’s (1553) while paying homage to the vanitas tradition.