I will be putting together a project called Tommy the sky gazer… Or something along those lines. The installation will involve a doll about two feet tall, a video camera and a screen.
The concept is that Tommy (the doll) will be made so that his eyes are always looking up at whatever walks by him. The footage gathered from Tommy’s eyes (video camera) will be fed to a screen, 3-5 feet away from Tommy. The screen will be installed 3-4 feet from the ground (around waist height) and tilted in a way that is not visible to a viewer standing up right. The only way to see the screen is if the viewer bends over and positions them self in an angle to see the screen’s content. The positioning of the viewer will be such that, it is inevitable to bend over an obstruct Tommy’s gaze. The viewer then discovers that they are looking at their self and feel a little violated from seeing their own gluteus maximus with out their permission. The irony is that they will be the only ones able to view the footage due to space constraints.
An alternative idea to displaying the footage, which I find more exposing, is to project the video feed on to the ceiling. This projection will give people the perspective of the doll and will make the doll-video connection more apparent.
My personal curiosity of people’s actions and reactions triggered by self surveillance is something that I would like to explore. In a way its like putting a toddler or a pet in front of a mirror to see what their reaction will be, withe the difference that I can actually gather data by asking questions afterwards.
