Recollections of a Tent

If you have a flashlight inside a tent, people outside the tent can see exactly what's going on inside the tent, often without the inhabitants of the tent realizing. This installation is a play on that situation; instead of showing scenes from the interior of the tent, it shows the environment of where the tent may have been.

Serene images of the Arizona dessert alternate tumultuous scenes from Sziget festival, but the tent also shows what it is like to wake up in a foggy meadow with nosy cows.

Spherical mirror projection

The spherical mirror projection used in this installation is inspired by the work of Paul Bourke, who uses the technique to project 180 degree panoramic content onto purpose-built upright half-dome screens.

The tent has its inner tent removed, and the fabric for the outer tent has been replaced with white cloth for better rear-projection. A specially deformed, animated image is projected onto a spherical mirror from inside the tent using a single projector. The deformations are specific to the tent geometry, the size and position of the spherical mirror and the projector. The result is a 360 degree viewable panorama projected onto the tent surface. The only part of the tent where the projector can not reach is the direct shadow of the spherical mirror.

Tent installation schematic
Schematic view of the Tent installation

SummerDrea.ms

The "Recollections of a Tent" installation has been rechristened "SummerDrea.ms" and has a microsite of its own aimed at summer festivals.

SummerDrea.ms is sponsored by Eureka tents.

09/16/2006

First showing at "Nacht van het Licht", De Plantage, Schiedam (NL)
05/12/2007

Awardwinning showing at "Ostend Kites International", Ostende (BE)
09/27/2009

Showing at "Vliegerfeest Scheveningen", Scheveningen (NL)
12/07/2011

Rechristening as "SummerDrea.ms" at Freemote 2011, Utrecht (NL)