Mirror, mirror on the wall (at the Seattle Art Museum)

In this episode of “On the Whiteboard,” Editor Pamela Woon takes you to a permanent video art installation at the Seattle Art Museum. Powered by Windows, it gives onlookers a constantly changing reflection of the city around them through pre-recorded video scenes of the urban landscape.

Next time you’re passing by the Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle at the corner of First and Union, look up. (This is one work of art you don’t have to pay admission to see.) On the outside wall facing the street is a wrap-around LED screen created by a Los Angeles-based artist that merges art and technology in a huge high-tech display that transports viewers away from their busy lives – at least for a few moments. 

The installation plays back hundreds of hours of different moments in the cityscape, so that even when it’s drizzly and dismal (as it so often is in Seattle after the summer fades away), those videos can take you to a dramatic sunrise and the promise of a new, brighter day.

Microsoft’s film series “On the Whiteboard” explores topics at the intersection of technology and culture, and introduces the people, places and things behind the products. Check out the latest installment above.

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Athima Chansanchai
Microsoft News Center Staff