Rumour

The temporary exhibition at the Museum of Communication in Bern was devoted to rumours of all kinds that are spread through various channels and media. Some of the rumours were started by the visitors themselves. iart contributed two installations: a "Whispering Wood" in which 74 thematically ordered rumours told in a whisper were heard outside the wood, creating a mysterious atmosphere that lured visitors inside, and a Pepper's Ghost installation with a small "rumours agent", who was sitting in his "doll's house agency" at a real miniature table, drawing attention to himself. He addressed visitors directly, called them over to him, engaged them in conversation and tried to worm rumours out of them.

This direct exchange was made possible by an actor seated in a concealed black box. He was sitting at a black table, facing a HD video camera that transmitted images in real time to the miniature room that was exhibited. There were three screens in front of the actor on which he could see himself in action, the exhibition and the visitors who came to the miniature room. He therefore always knew whether he was positioning himself correctly in the room and where the visitors were located. Visitors were unaware of these tools, all they saw was the actor's virtual figure sitting at the small real desk, where he made phone calls, did research and interacted with them. They could talk to him to their hearts' content: nothing was predetermined.

This project was realised in collaboration with tegoro solutions (since 2013 part of iart).