Fantoom: Exploring Ephemerality with Studio Glithero

For the International Biennale Interieur 2014 in Kortrijk, Belgium, London-based design duo Studio Glithero has created an interactive installation that explores ephemerality through visual trickery.

In response to the changing function of Kortrijk’s Broelmuseum and its moving collection of artefacts, the designers transformed the space into an immersive experience called Fantoom. Transparent surfaces display floating holograms on plinths, while the real artefacts are housed in crates below.

The illusion is achieved using a Victorian stage trick called Pepper’s Ghost, where an object is hidden from view, and reflected onto a transparent surface angled at 45 degrees. This surface then reflects the object behind it, creating a three-dimensional effect that challenges the viewer’s perception of the objects in the space – much like the illusionary effect that resurrected Tupac at Coachella.

Concerned with transitory moments that capture the point when a product becomes an object, Studio Glithero uses ephemerality to question the idea of permanence and physicality by imagining a new way of showcasing absent collections. For more on optical illusions within spaces, look to Trick of the Eye, Doug Wheeler’s Illusionary Space and our Illusion Christmas 2015 Design Direction.

Fantoom is part of a wider cultural programme at this year’s Biennale Interieur, which runs until October 26.