Interactive video installation, 2012

Video of interactivity:

collaboration by Donna Szoke and Ricarda McDonald

Our interactive installation “and all watched over by machines of loving grace” uses a computer, software large monitors and a Kinect sensor. Two large monitors display an eye. As the viewer walks past the monitor, the eyes follow their motion. The screens “watch” the viewer, and track their motions.   This non-blinking installation emphasizes the human element of surveillance—a blink—that implies an inherent human failure if compared to machine surveillance. The title comes from a 1967 Richard Brautigan poem, and suggests a loving, caring gaze that watches over humanity, as opposed to the current state of surveillance that is concerned with property crime and consumerism.

Exhibitions

Solo:

2012   CRAM Gallery, St. Catharines ON, April 27 – May 22
2012   Plug In ICA, Winnipeg, MB, Jan 28 – March 25, (Version 2: Kinect Sensor, infrared lighting, HD)

Group:

2016   Under Surveillance, Art Gallery of Regina, September 2 – October 16
2014   International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), Dubai, UAE, October 30 – November 82013   Centre 3, Hamilton, ON, Sept 6 – October 19
2013   European Media Art Festival, Osnabruek, Germany, April 24 – May 26
2013   Art Souterrain / Nuit Blanche Montreal, Victoria Station, Montreal, March 2-17
2004   SWARM Art Festival, Video In Studios, Vancouver, Sept 9, (Beta Version: Firewire sensor, incandescent light, SD)

Publications:

2018     Image contribution, cover: “and all watched over by machines of loving grace.” Arena: A Magazine of Critical Thinking and Ideas for Change, 153 (04/05 2018). Deakin U, Melbourne, Aus.

2017      Image contribution & review: “and all watched over by machines of loving grace.” In Lisa Moren. Algorithmic Pollution: Artists Working with Dataveillance and Societies of Control. NMC Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus. Fall 2017. ISSN 1942-017X

2013     “and all watched over by machines of loving grace.” European Media Art Festival, 2013. Eds. Alfred Rotert, Hermann Nöring, Ralf Sausmikat. (Osnabrück; European Media Art Festival, 2013).

Reviews:

Winnipeg Free Press, by Alison Gilmor:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/watching-you-watching-me-140406383.html

Globe & Mail, by RM Vaughn:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/rm-vaughan/let-me-introduce-you-to-suzy-lake-national-treasure/article2415934/print/

SEE ALSO: International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance

Thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for their generous support!!