Surveillance Study of Normal Walking
Screenshots Printed on Acetate, 29.7 cm x 42 cm, Computer Screen, Video 54″00′
Digital Print on Paper, 32.9 cm x 48.3 cm
Every day, pilgrims from all around the world follow the footsteps of the Beatles 55 years ago and pose for the picture. The act is captured by a surveillance camera and broadcasted live, round the clock, on the live streaming webcams site earthcam.com. By looking at the footage, I as a spectator/”voyeur” am to examine postures of people crossing the road. I am intrigued by the pedestrian’s strikingly similar postures, no matter they are just crossing or posing for their phones. The scenario illustrates the dynamics of voyeurism vs exhibitionism.
One day, I (the spectator/”voyeur”) actually went to Abbey Road to observe people crossing, and crossed the road myself. I in turn appeared in the CCTV footage and becoming a subject to be watched online by other voyeurs.
I develop the idea to stack CCTV still images on the footage of myself crossing the road. I as a curator of these existing (still) images, and that my curation activates the re-enactment of the Beatles’ CD cover, or a pedestrian’s crossing, as tableau vivants. We as tableaux performers perform to the phone cameras, and knowingly or inadvertently, the surveillance camera (and its live, global audience, as well as their audience on social media). The act of stacking enables the postures of each individual, as a performer, to be concealed or revealed.
A print of digital stacking of images is also produced to stand with the installation.