Niamh Riordan

‘Prototype’, 2009. Lenses, flourescent light bulbs, jesmonite, perspex mirror, plasticine

Working with unconventional, self-made means of projection, I attempt a re-imagining of cinematic technology, bypassing centuries of cinematic invention to create an idiosyncratic projector which emphasizes the lens as an instrument of illusion.

Using an opaque projector, I am able to project objects: a model is magnified and projected live, using little more than a lamp and a lens. A miniature space is displaced, its image thrown onto the other side of the room. Rather than being recorded and removed, the miniature space is doubled: the set inhabits the same space as the cinema.

Two images are projected: one suggests a projection room, the other looks to be an auditorium or cinema of sorts. ‘Prototype’ is installed in a room which acts as both projection room and viewing space. On its walls are projected images which suggest alternative versions of this reality.

The projector itself is part functional, part prop. Its form suggests 360 degree projection, yet four out of its six openings project nothing. In a sense it is a proposal for a more complete cinema machine, a prototype for the realisation of a ‘total cinema’.