"See what you've made me do"

Watch This Space Discover Philips luminous textile panels, as featured in Miriam Bäckström’s interactive installation at the Kvadrat showroom in Paris. ‘These panels produce an intriguing image that makes you, the visitor, an actual part of the work.’ For the new Kvadrat showroom in Paris, Swedish artist Miriam Bäckström crafted a permanent installation with the luminous textile panels that Philips developed in collaboration with Kvadrat Soft Cells. See What You’ve Made Me Do is an interactive machine that reacts to movement, sound, temperature and speed. Bäckström’s installation is of great importance to Leon van de Pas, general manager of Large Luminous Surfaces. ‘With these panels, we wanted to offer something more than a standard product.’, he says. ‘We set out to inspire designers and architects, and to provide them with an opportunity to combine creativity and technology. I’m proud to see our design elements instantly adopted by leading artists to create such amazing interactive experiences. It shows that we’ve succeeded in doing just that.’ During the last ten years, Bäckström has worked intensively in the fields of photography, film, performance and video. The ‘ characters’ she’s developed are the essence of her work. See What You’ve Made Me Do is no exception; the installation has a life and a will of its own. It seems to have a personality. Three cameras and several microphones pick up low-res images and sounds from the surroundings. When you get to within 2 meters of aluminous textile panel or ‘screen’, what you see are the blurred contours of your own body. ‘But if you remain standing there for too long,’ says Bäckström, ‘the character becomes bored and listless. The result is prerecorded footage that encourages you to move – to take some sort of action. This installation presents you with a challenge. You can never predict what it’s going to do next.’ For the work she exhibited at the Paris showroom, the artist opted for eight small luminous textile panels, making sure that her invention wouldn’t dominate the space. ‘But I’m toying with the idea of creating a 115-meter-long installation, which would allow for a high-res image.’ says Bäckström. ‘The walls of the room would disappear. Rather than a brick-and-mortar building, you would experience an imagined architecture. People are sensitive to movement, colour, technique and interaction. That’s why these panels have such an interesting effect.’ Source FRAME magazine issue 90, Jan/Feb 2013 | Words Femke de Wild | Photo and video Leon Verlaek for BLD Media