The mirror is, after all, a utopia, since it is a placeless place. In the mirror, I see myself there where I am not, in an unreal, virtual space that opens up behind the surface; I am over there, there where I am not, a sort of shadow that gives my own visibility to myself, that enables me to see myself there where I am absent: such is the utopia of the mirror.
*A mirror is merely a tool, a reflector. We cannot contest the existence of a mirror. We can touch it, see it, and feel it. However, our reflection, although is visible, does reside in an “other” place. The reflection does exist, but the world that it resides in does not. It is a projection of a reality and it becomes an unreality since the reality does not exist in the projection. This is how utopias function; they stem from realities and yet they don’t exist. By forging a physical manifestation, Foucault manages to fortify his definition and to ensure a clearer understanding of it. The follow up of unreal with virtual also reminds us of the cyberspace and its supposed inaccessibility. The idea of using one’s shadow to remind and confirm one’s existence piques interest because I have always assumed that I exist whether or not I had confirmed it. The idea of using an unreality to confirm the existence of a reality comes up again.
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