Artist Danny Rouzen has reimagined the mirror with over 800 wooden blocks.

“A tiny camera gathers light and shape data, before sending it to a computer that processes it and uses hundreds of tiny electric motors to shift the wood blocks into the image in front of the device. Subtle gradations of shade are achieved by both the natural grain of the wood and the angle at which they are displayed, casting shadow if necessary.”

Hasn’t every reflective surface become an instrument for narcissism? I find myself fixing my hair in the windows of a bodega and checking my makeup in the hidden-camera mirrors alongside Chase ATMs.

That might not be Rozen’s point: instead of using mirrors to look inward, the wooden mirror asks us to see the objects around us as reflections (rather then merely pieces) of the external world.

[Via www.environmentalgraffiti.com]