“Surveillance” & “Eye In The Sky”, 2024-09

The exploration in the implications of surveillance practices on societal norms, individual autonomy, and the potential for resistance in an age defined by constant monitoring. With surveillance in contemporary society evolving into a complex interplay between physical and digital practices, fundamentally reshaping our experiences and interactions. Physical surveillance, exemplified by the pervasive use of CCTV and cameras, monitors public spaces, instilling a sense of both security and unease. Simultaneously, digital surveillance operates through technologies such as cookies and tracking scripts, which harvest our online behaviours and preferences. This dual tracking—where our movements in the physical world are recorded alongside our digital footprints—raises critical questions about privacy, agency, and consent. As we navigate these environments, we become increasingly aware of how our identities are constructed and manipulated through the data collected about us. This research aims to explore the implications of these surveillance practices on societal norms, individual autonomy, and the potential for resistance in an age defined by constant monitoring.

The resulting body of work consists of two projection installations that reflect on both physical surveillance, such as CCTV, and the metaphysical surveillance of digital footprints through cookies and tracking scripts.

The main projection piece, Surveillance, features a two-minute loop of a human eye overlaid with a visualization of a computer CPU. This is accompanied by a scrolling banner of various CCTV clips and a live feed of the audience viewing the artwork. Projected onto a sheer screen backdrop, the installation invites viewers to survey the environment behind it, evoking the sensation of being constantly watched. This work aims to challenge the conventional perception of surveillance by emphasizing the contextual nature of observation without visible cameras.

The second piece, Eye in the Sky, features the same CPU eye loop, but this time with various social media icons orbiting around the pupil, projected onto the ceiling. This literal play on the concept of “the cloud” underscores the idea of surveillance from above. The central eye draws inspiration from Tony Oursler’s Obscura series, exploring themes of perception and the interplay between technology and human experience. The use of projection is influenced by both Oursler and the No Somos Delito Madrid protests, serving as an intangible medium that heavily relies on the human sense of sight, similar to CCTV surveillance.

Surveillance’s CCTV banner is informed by Paolo Cirio’s Capture series, which explores themes of surveillance and the manipulation of publicly available data and images, commenting on how individuals are tracked and represented in the digital landscape. Meanwhile, the live feed is inspired by Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon Panopticam Project, examining the nature of observation and the provocation of constant surveillance in modern society.

I decided to shift from the theme of machine learning models to surveillance after completing assessment task 2, which focused on a technology surveillance POV. This change was influenced by a classroom exercise on avoiding surveillance, leading me to explore the concept of surveillance camouflage—hiding in plain sight through identity theft, rather than direct concealment from surveillance.