| Description and Concept |
ACCESS is a public art installation that applies web, computer, sound
and lighting technologies in which web users track individuals in public
spaces with a unique robotic spotlight and acoustic beam system. The robotic
spotlight automatically follows the tracked individuals while the acoustic
beam projects audio that only they can hear. The tracked individuals do
not know who is tracking them or why they are being tracked, nor are they
aware of being the only persons among the public hearing the sound. The
web users do not know that their actions trigger sound towards the target.
In effect, both the tracker and the tracked are in a paradoxical communication
loop. The ACCESS spotlight system travels from one undisclosed public space
to another. The exact location of the public space is revealed only after
ACCESS moves to its next location. The ACCESS website, which contains the
webcam view and spotlight control, keeps an updated list of the locations
visited as well as a video archive.
The content of ACCESS calls for awareness of the implications of surveillance,
detection, celebrity, and their impact on society. The structure of ACCESS
is intentionally ambiguous, revealing the obsession/fascination for control,
visibility, and vigilance: scary or fun. ACCESS was primarily influenced
by the beauty of the surveillance representations (x-rayed bodies, luggage
or vehicles, 3D laser scans, satellite reconnaissance imagery, etc.), the
invisibility of the collected data, and the power generated by means of
surveillance practices.
|
