Counter Culture TV: Turning CCTV into Art Sixty years after George Orwell's 1984 vision has become London's 21st century reality- the capital is the most watched city in the world, with cameras on every street corner. London's art scene is now making sure that we don't forget to look back at those who watch us.
Three artists reflect on what has become part of the modern urban landscape: CCTV cameras. There are many CCTV cameras on Brick Lane and like in most places, they mostly remain unnoticed. But on a March Sunday, one particular camera attracted everyone's attention. It was larger than any other camera and moved its head, picking some people out of the crowd to follow them with its stare. It was also wearing corduroy trousers.
The camera was Arturo Gaskins’, who had put a large cardboard camera on his head, climbed on a dustbin and started looking down on market goers. This street performance is part of the actor's practice for a new play: he wants to see public's reaction to his new camera persona.
The moment market goers saw the large cardboard camera, they stopped walking or chatting for a brief moment, looked closely and then smiled, as if relieved that a real person was looking at them. But not everybody takes it that lightly. "One day a group threw water at me, and some showed me the middle finger." While this does not sound like a successful street performance, Arturo feels fulfilled.
"I do this to study people's reaction, and these are perfect results”. The actor, who is a graduate from [www.lispa.co.uk The London International School of Performing Arts] is interested in surveillance since he first saw a camera moving its lens towards him. “One night I was waiting at a bus stop and started rolling a joint.
Then suddenly I heard a buzzing sound. It was a CCTV camera turning in my direction. That was in 2006 and CCTV has stayed in my head since.” Another haunting experience is the art of Manu Luksch, a director and media artist who proves that CCTV does not have to be your enemy.
Only if you need cheap camera footage, that is. As soon as Manu Luksch's movie starts, however, it is clear that this filmmaker doesn't go easy on surveillance cameras. Even if they provide the basis for her work. She has found a way to use the negative connotation of CCTV footage as a powerful narrator for her chilling movie 'Faceless'.
The Austrian-born filmmaker obtained the footage for her film by filing numerous Freedom of Information requests during five years. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives citizens the right to access CCTV coverage if they can prove they have been filmed. When responding to the request, the owner of the CCTV system must render all other people on the footage unidentifiable in respect of their right to privacy.
This adds not only some colour to 'Faceless' (the dots on the faces often come in different colours), but also provided the outline for the script: a woman with a face (Manu Luksch) wakes up in a world of the faceless. The piano, the agonising electronic sounds and Tilda Swinton's voices, turn this movie into an intense experience. Ofar Quarson, the self-proclaimed "artist genius extraordinaire", reflects on the surveillance state in a more humorous way.
One day he posts a useless item on an auction site, the other day he creates a photomontage of an anti-terrorism ad. One rather suspicious looking postcard from London is probably one of his funniest creations. It has more grey tones than any other postcard, but still looks familiar.
A closer look reveals that the four photographs of London's most famous spots were taken from CCTV footage. While it might not be the loudest way to defend privacy and civil liberties, it can be an effective one.
“Postcards are a great way to bring a unique artwork and political information to someone. This one can surprise and raise awareness of what's going on in London and actually in every city in every country. Cards usually show how a certain area is viewed, so this is a very modern view of London, seen through CCTV cameras,” says Quarson.
The card was created using footage from online traffic cameras. “On these sites you can watch live CCTV of these normal, boring places, so we took screen captures and pasted them together.” His unusual ways of promoting his work have had some success. Quarson's Andy Warhol-inspired portraits of a socialist Margaret Thatcher ( 'ThatCHE' ) can be seen at the [ http://www.vam.ac.uk/ Victoria and Albert Museum] and bought here .
All these artists manage to change the viewers' perception of CCTV by putting them in the position of the camera. Again, art proves to be a mirror for society – only in our time, this mirror is a surveillance camera.
Side Box: Not only London artists are affected by the increasing number of cameras. In the United States, artists have reflected on this for longer.
The Camera Surveillance Players are probably the best known group: they have been performing theatre plays in protest in front of CCTV cameras since 1996. However, the group has stopped announcing their plays, because “when the group announces its performances, the cops come.” Another interesting project is that of Hasan Elahi who created a 24/7 online alibi after he was suspected to be a terrorist at an airport in 2001.
Tracking Transience is a live multimedia art object created by possibly the first victim of post-9/11 terrorism paranoia.
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