Ernie's (You can see her there)

interactive installation, dimensions variable

Ernie’s (You Can See Her There) is an interactive installation that explores how desire is created in Hollywood cinema through the reconstruction of a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo. Specifically the work examines the mechanics of cinema (setting, lighting and music) and how Hitchcock constructs a hyper-subjective image of the ideal woman, Madeleine. Set in Ernie’s restaurant Madeleine becomes the object of desire when the male character sees her for the first time as the music swells. Within the installation, Ernie’s restaurant is suggested by red damask wallpaper and ambient restaurant sounds appropriated from the film. There is a dimmed spotlight shining on the wall and the viewer’s movements activate a sensor cueing a section of Bernard Hermann’s score to play. The movie spotlight shines brighter as the installation performs a cinematic experience spatially, and the viewer becomes the object of desire.

1K film light, wallpaper, audio, speakers, mechanical system, motion detector

Technical Fabrication: Kevin Crooks
Music: Appropriated excerpts from Bernard Hermann's score of the film Vertigo
Special Thanks: Michael Underwood

*also see the Madeleine exhibition.