Mall Magic

February 24, 2024

On Saturday, February 24, Andrei and I (Phase Shift Collective) created an interactive video installation at a pop-up event hosted by Anna Oxygen in a disused retail space at a dying mall in Ithaca, NY.

At the event, Anna performed an experimental run-through of The Shapes We Leave Behind, a strange livestream performance in which she greenscreens herself, wearing various sculptural costumes created by collaborator Fawn Krieger, into a surreal video-game-esque landscape filled with glitchy 3D scanned statues of herself, while also singing and performing electronic music.

The night ended with a dance party to 80s disco music, with people dancing inside the video feedback loop of our installation.

Anna was able to briefly take over this former storefront space in a mostly empty shopping mall, inserting herself and her artwork into an appropriately liminal venue during a sabbatical from her professorship. Thanks to Anna for inviting us to be a part of this unusual show.