Smileys by Nisse Bergman
Stand in front of the mirror surfaces and move slowly sideways. What happens to the smiley?
What happened to it?
When you stand in just the right place, the mirror pixels reflect the light to your eyes and you see a smiley face. If you move, the angle changes and the smiley face disappears. If you move to a new location, a new smiley face appears.
Learn more!
The artwork is made up of 6 050 small mirror pixels, each of which is carefully angled using a computer programme. The programme makes mathematical calculations using matrices and vectors to determine exactly how each mirror pixel should reflect light. To adjust the angles of the mirror pixels, the programme uses Gaussian elimination, a method for solving linear systems of equations.
When light hits the mirror pixels, it is reflected in the direction determined by the angle of each pixel. By carefully adjusting these angles, the artist can create the illusion of a smiley face that is only visible from certain positions. As you move in front of the mirrored surfaces, the light from other pixels reaches you and a new smiley appears.
This artwork shows how art, technology and maths can work together to create something that surprises and fascinates.
Try it again!
Try to find all four smiley faces by moving back and forth in front of the mirror surfaces. Each smiley is unique and appears at different positions.