Stanza webcam artwork 2001. Surveillance based artwork.

Panoptic World. Countdown to a World Of Total Surveillance. 2001.

This is an online digital artwork taking real time images of from over five hundred webcams around the world. It takes a few seconds to start pulling live networked feeds. This artwork has been online and working since September 9th 2001 where I showed this as part of a group event called A Fair Place Turkey 2001. The artwork suggests a panoptic world of networked surveillance. The reliance on technology as time passes allows this artwork to actually reflect the present moment and the flow of global images that form this observational flow. Sooner or later the redundancy of these networked cameras will mean nothing appears on the screen other than the black images being served up from the system.


UPDATE 2008: I didn't expect this artwork to work for very long as it was a test piece about networking devices online, however I just left it on my website, and it still works. Made using custom software without the need for a proxy server, this technique just grabs feeds in real time.

Update.2.2.2019. Seems like it still works. Although some of the cameras in the system have old images and lots have been taken down. But the system still functions.

Update.20.8.2020 Only available on request for exhibitions.

Availability

The artwork is available as custom made software system and computer files. To be exhibited on LCD screens or discussed with curator. This artwork needs an internet connection.

Panoptic World. 2001. from Stanza on Vimeo.

Stanza webcam artwork 2001. Surveillance artwork.

Keywords: Online, time, surveillance, control, net art, artwork, system, real time, webcam and CCTV.

Stanza@sublime.net

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