My witness is the empty sky

Six-channel video, surveillance cameras, raspberry pis, proximity sensors, custom code

2024

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In the present day we live with the expectation of near constant surveillance. And more than ever, our lives are performative and consumable, the most mundane moments broadcasted with the hope of attention or connection. In response to this heightened awareness, the desire for privacy has risen within media applications – and we’ve opted in, controlling for what and who can access our likeness. In order to demonstrate this paradox in our thinking (both wanting to be seen and maintaining the right to be forgotten), this work manipulates security cameras, rendering them ineffective for their intended purpose. 

A cluster of surveillance cameras point out of a window at passersby, with several monitors streaming the live view. Though seemingly menacing, upon closer inspection, the cameras are shown to avoid capturing a viewer’s likeness. One camera records approaching individuals to display them for all to see on a large screen centered in the window, but as they come within five feet of the camera, the screen reverts to static. Several other cameras point at extreme angles, focusing on various details in the landscape typically of little interest to security, forcing the viewer to actively work (by squatting or jumping up) in order to be captured on screen. The final two screens capture the passersby with time delays, causing the viewer to freeze in an infinite loop of observation as though watching another person. Each instance of surveillance is intended to invite curiosity and to deny satisfaction, pitting our desire to be witnessed against our demand for privacy.

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