Mirror III: Horizon

Cotterrell's Mirror III: Horizon grew through research and conversations with residents of Malta and was presented as part of the Pop-Up Creative Hub at the 7th World Summit on Arts and Culture of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) held in 2016 in Valletta, Malta.

Mirror III is presented as a two-screen filmed project, showing the dynamic dialogue between a light on shore and a light at sea. The project explores what might transpire between two strangers if their communication was reduced to the language of lights.

Filmed in Malta, set against the dramatic edges of the island’s stunning coast and contextualized by the island’s deep historical experience of visitors who arrived repeatedly by sea, the installation draws on the fluctuating paranoia of the current refugee crisis. Mirror III examines what might possibly be communicated between strangers if their words were reduced to beams of light and their faces need never be revealed. Mirror III features an accompanying essay by Sri Lankan playwright and theatre director Ruwanthie de Chickera, with whom Cotterrell collaborated with for the piece.

Mirror III : Horizon is part of the “Mirror” project, a series of two-screen works devised to provide insight into global communities that experience distancing and objectification. “Mirror” experiments with perspective in order to challenge common human assumptions and provide insight into nuanced personal and collective narratives.

In preparation for Mirror III, a prototype iPhone app was developed to send, receive and interpret Morse Code – a form of communication used traditionally to convey a situation of human emergency.

The 7th World Summit on Arts & Culture, entitled At the Crossroads? Cultural Leadership in the 21st Century took place from 18-21 October 2016 in the historic city of Valletta, Malta bringing together over 380 delegates from 90 countries, including a substantial number from Europe and Asia. It was one of many meetings held in Malta last month gathering civil society, particularly cultural actors including the 15th Assembly of Experts of the European Compendium, the Global Cultural Leadership Programme and the Med Forum 2016 of the Anna Lindh Foundation.