The stereoscopic effect goes back to the 1820s with the invention of the stereoscope. Crary describes the stereoscope as the second most important form of visual imagery in the nineteenth century, only after the photograph. (Crary, 116) The images produced by this object with a three dimensional nature where so lifelike and natural that according to Helmholtz, after viewing them one would get the feeling that he had seen the object being portrayed before and be familiarized with it. (Crary, 124) It’s important to point out that the reality effect produced by modern polarized projectors has increased significantly compared to the one produced by nineteen century stereoscopes which weren’t very reliable.

The stereoscope separated an image into different areas where some would seem planar and other would “occupy space aggressively” thus becoming 3D. (Crary, 125) With modern polarized projectors the effect is a bit different since; to begin with, it is videos which are used instead of images. One can now just stand up in front of a screen and with the help of the glasses admire how a scene rather than a still image jumps out of it. This increased reality effect makes the feeling Helmholtz talks about even stronger.



When looking at a stereoscopic image the effect of vividness on the viewer is increased as the proximity of the object being displayed seems to be increased too. This means that not only does the image appears to be real but it also looks tangible. (Crary, 122) In this case when the viewer is wearing his glasses and admiring the piece he feels, for a moment, not that he is looking at a distant real forest but that he is right in front of one that he can almost touch.

The fact that this technology puts the body of the viewer in the middle of the Forest surrounded by the children makes it  special by being very different to others. Technology such as computers make the person who is interacting with them separate from their body, leaving it behind as they enter the virtual world. In Into the Forest, however, the presence of the body inside the art piece is crucial for the viewer to properly experience it. The Open Ended Group is therefore applying Frazer’s Law of Similarity that he describes in his statement on sympathetic magic: “the magician infers that he can produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it”. (Taussig, 47) Reproducing the body using, what to the viewer is, sympathetic magic creates a mimetic copy of it which gives the viewer a spatial presence in the virtual forest, thus making the experience even stronger by having a physical connection with the scene.

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