‘Shadow Monsters’ Exhibit Brings Out Houston’s Inner Child — and Creature

Maybe as a kid you made shadow puppets – putting your hand in front of a light to create a silhouette on the wall of a dog's head or a butterfly. Or maybe you struggled to make shapes, and your shadow puppet ended up looking more like just a blob – or some sort of other monster.

Well, a new exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston takes shadow play a step further. It's called Shadow Monsters, and visitors stand in front of a camera, which then projects their silhouette onto the wall – but then adds all sorts of monster features in the process. Fins and feathers are added to heads and bodies. Teeth and tentacles are added to arms and legs. And there's even sound effects.

British artist Philip Worthington says he remembers as a child casting shapes on the wall using the light of his father's slide projector. Here he tells Houston Public Media’s Troy Schulze how the exhibit works and about the enjoyment he gets from seeing both kids and grownups indulge their playful side.

Shadow Monsters is on display through Sept. 20 at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

MORE: Streaming Video of Museum Visitors Interacting with the #ShadowMonsters Installation

Shadow Monsters by Philip Worthington from Dezeen on Vimeo: