Sirens

At Hotel Jarolim in Brixen, a mermaid appears to move beneath the surface of an ordinary swimming pool. Studio McGuire’s Sirens uses life-size holographic projection to place mythical figures and sea creatures within existing bodies of water, making the image feel less like a screen than a fleeting sighting.

The illusion is deliberately seductive. Reflections, darkness and the movement of the pool allow the figures to hover between physical presence and projection. Then plastic bags enter the same underwater world. They do not explain the work from outside it. They share the mermaids’ habitat, allowing environmental reality to contaminate the fantasy.

Created by Davy and Kristin McGuire, Sirens was presented at the 2026 Brixen Water Light Festival in the garden of Hotel Jarolim. Its setting turned a familiar place of leisure into a space of uncertainty.

The work demonstrates how wonder can hold an audience’s attention long enough for a more uncomfortable image to surface.