Whitney review: Allison Senak

Dan Graham: Beyond
Whitney Museum of American Art
September 17, 2009

Opposing Mirrors and Video Monitors on Time Delay
This piece stood out to me the most out of all Dan Graham’s works. The title of the work is fairly self-explanatory in that it consists of two video displays of opposing ends of the room. However, there is a several-second delay between what actually happens in front of the one display and what appears on the other side of the room. Therefore, you could perform an action in front of one display and go to the other side of the room in time to see yourself doing it on the other display. You could also see yourself in the reflection of the mirrors on either side of the room. I spent time with this piece along with several other students in the class, which made the experience even more memorable and complex.

Opposing Mirrors, like many of Graham’s works, invites the viewer to be an active participant with the piece rather than a passive observer. Particularly, his mirror works compel the viewer to travel around it and through it to see what changes occur to his or her own reflection. Graham playfully gets his viewers thinking about the way they perceive themselves and how easily something as familiar as their own reflection can be externally manipulated. It also provokes thought on how others perceive us in a larger context. I personally responded to the meaningfulness yet lack of seriousness prevalent throughout his works, which I believe makes his work more easily accessible to a larger audience besides the art world.