Reflecting on a reflection with a play within a play
Deer: Hi, I can’t see you properly.
Albedo: That’s weird, because we can see you very clearly.
Deer: Why?
Albedo: Because we made you like this.
Deer looks confused and wishes to walk away.
Albedo: Wait! We’ll explain.
Deer: I don’t trust you, I am an individual and not made by humans like you. Humans are dangerous and all they do is kill us.
Albedo: Exactly!
Deer: I don’t get it…
Albedo: Hold on a sec.
Deer: I don’t have all day, I’ve got some cars to catch in accidents tonight.
Albedo: This is precisely the point. So we made this retro-reflective coating. It is paint mixed with glass beads embedded in a mirroring material.
Deer: This sounds really horrible.
Albedo: It’s not, haven’t you noticed that less of your family friends got killed since we came up with this?
Deer: Maybe
Albedo: What we did is, we applied the paint to you antlers such that direct light is captured and internally reflected to brilliant effect.
Deer: When did you do this exactly?
Albedo: Not relevant.
Deer: Okay, it sounds great, but to me it sounds even more dangerous than before I had this spray. Looks really unhappy.
Albedo: How come?
Deer: Well, for instance, wolves. They will see me since I am now glowing in the dark.
Albedo: They can’t see you. The antlers glow only in car headlights so it’s not like wolves are scanning the forest with searchlights for flashy reindeer. Laughs.
Deer: Hmm, still not convinced.
Albedo: Hey man not to be rude, but between the moon, their natural night vision, and the snow, pretty sure wolves don’t need head lights to see a reindeer with reflectors on its antlers…
Deer: True. Butt still.
Albedo: What’s wrong now?
Deer: I feel a bit like I am being used. Do I look like the patronus of Harry Potter?
Albedo: No. You are not the only one we will use this paint for.
Anti-paparazzi handbags and clothing would also do great.
Deer: That goes far beyond me. I am just a deer you know.
Albedo: It’s slim. You are now somewhere where the future is superficial.
Don’t you think this is super cool?!
Deer: Why would I think that? looks alarmed.
Albedo: Because it’s like magic, like Harry Potter. We changed your life, we saved it. Now there is less car accidents, which is a win- win for deers and for humans (and their cars).
Deer: Okay man, I get it. I like it. But I do want to say, without humans nature would have done fine by itself.
Albedo: I think humans are also part of nature.
Deer: This is an endless discussion. We are done.
Deer walks away nodding and mumbling quietly.
Albedo: Good luck. Waves.
THE END
Reflective Spray Albedo 100. exh.cat.no.72/74B-slim