Publicity: Visitors To A Gallery. by Stanza....2004. An artwork using surveillance and public interaction.

Publicity: Visitors To A Gallery. 2004. By Stanza.

'publicity' public surveillance open source systems.

Publicity by Stanza....2004. A series of works based on CCTV and security systems and public interaction. A series of artworks using CCTV systems in the environment to make artworks.
Live networked data incorporated into the environment projectedointo The Watershed.

Publicity: Visitors To A Gallery. 2004. By Stanza.

Publicity is an artwork about the surveillance of public domain space utilzing any CCTV systems in place and manipulating the CCTV feeds.

A series of custom computer codes manipulated the surveillance cameras of the building and created a new relationship with public domain space.

Installation. Theme: Inside <-> Outside

This artwork questions who owns the data and who is watching us in these spaces. Most buildings have CCTV and they use it to observe the people inside the space, ie the public.By hacking the real time analogue and digital CCTV feeds my aim is to reclaim the data space from private to public domain. All the resulting CCTV network is projected over the building creating new narratives from what is happening inside. It is also presented online by hacking the live CCTV feed.

The outside of the building becomes a huge display system. In essence the outside of the building represents the inside of the building. The space and the physical body is represented as a huge display.

By doing this it also makes the building transparent and opens up the architecture and the networked space.

In this artwork I hacked the CCTV technology in the building to broadcast all the information outside over the internet into the public domain. This makes the building a giant broadcast TV station. The information no longer becomes private, it is opened out, and is not longer privileged, it is transparent. The data although observable by everyone ie, everybody in the whole world is watching you, is also available to be owned by yourself ie, the public. The public are the owners of the data they make. In fact the public are the data inside this space. The body reclaims the data space.

The work 'publicity' is the creation of a sociopolitical cultural artifact, that creates real time images with the systems that are used in everyday surveillance, and any other systems that are in deployed inside the 'public' building. The work fuses the inside space, and the outside of the space, and the real time data of the body and the data of the surrounding environment. This system allows the public to be in and engaged within a 'parallel reality'. This is an observation of the self within the context of the continuous stream of data that surrounds us in this case accessing the buildings own surveillance.

The impressions are not literal interpretations, or snap shots, but fused metaphors,a narrative, creating a unique experience of the place, the space, and the environment. The images are sensory illusions of a data space with the body firmly placed in the centre. They are rendered real time films, ie real time unfolding environments. This is a synchronous unfolding of reality from multiple perspectives. These images unfold as real time impressions of the internalized space.

The work can be adapted to be a memory space a bank of memories by fusing the recorded data with the real time footage. A real time memory space of the architecture. This new ' Psychometric architecture' becomes a techno space or surveillance embedded in the space capturing the total environmental experience. The walking, talking, moving is merged and reconfigured and replayed as seems fit.

The reconstructed space thus becomes a gallery a global panopticon an all buildings could be linked together this way..

Touring

Available for buildings and architects who might want to experience their space as an artwork by giving me access to the CCTV system; please get in touch. stanza at sublime.net

Nothing is private everything is public. No-one can opt out, everyone is a player. Smile now the whole world is watching, you are being recorded on CCTV.

Concepts

The public are integrated into the data of the artwork so that they become the artwork. In becomes a real time artifact. The work is always changing,never the same again always different forever.

The focus is the live dynamic interpretation of the space and the people both inside and outside. CCTV systems are everywhere in the public domain. We are all actors, bit part actors, in a giant movie called life. Except we cannot watch, it is not on public display and the results are monitored, filtered and distributed without our permission. This artwork puts the public on public display. The surveyed public as everyday actors are displayed using giants screens in public space, ie within the public city. To use the building the networks are part of and re-represent these building. All the imagery from the inside of the building is used to made the outside of the building.

The display device for the networked data infrastructure is the building itself. This work opens out the networks of CCTV and manipulates these images creating new narratives.

Version one tested at Watershed Media Centre 2004.

Publicity by Stanza....2004. A series of works based on CCTV and security systems and public interaction. A series of artworks using CCTV systems in the environment to make artworks.

Screen shots of live CCTV broadcast. The data CCTV stream was manipulated and place online for all to see.

Technology.

In the first version an experimental relay was adapted from the Watersheds CCTV live footage of the general public entering the Watershed gallery. A live internet broadcast on 26.2.2004. This used multiple CCTV cameras output through a composite BNC, and then through an analogue to digital converter. (could be a effects box for future use). The DV out is then input to Quicktime Broadcaster the free software version and out put and served up through Sorenson to the apple quicktime streaming server and unicast over the internet.

An interface software suite allows the images to be mixed a sort of CCTV ming kit.

http://rtsp.watershed.co.uk/live/stanza.sdp
(no longer online in real time but documentation is available below)

SEE MOVIE

Publicity by Stanza....2004. A series of works based on CCTV and security systems and public interaction. A series of artworks using CCTV systems in the environment to make artworks.

Future Development.

To build a touch screen kiosk that controls all the feeds from the cctv and is available for the public to 'play' and create new narratives. The screen will have new filters and using custom software it will allow a whole series of perspectives on the people and the space. This way the users control the images that are displayed either on the building or in the street.

Software.

The software will be customised and built to meet both the specification of the units that are already deployed in a building or more will be brought in to enhance the system and give camera intelligence. The images off the streams are then manipulated. These data streams are distributed to a system where they are processed before being rendered to a screen.

The outcomes are affecting experiences with effected manipulation. With additional modification and the whole system can also be web based to allow real time broadcasting of the results. (as was the first original test to a quicktime streaming server). The opening up of data and information to the public domain is an important part of the work.

Hardware

I have been talking to CCTV systems engineers and other programmers. I am interested in working with an organisation that might utilise either the buildings intelligent data that may be in place such as cctv as well as the cameras in the touch screens.

Version One: Made and shown at the Watershed Media Centre. This version also broadcast the results onto the internet. ie live cctv online for all to see

Performance Mode

Surveillance suite CCTV system. I have devised a 'Publicity' performance using and mixing the data in the living space as a performance. All the resulting data is projected over the building so that the outside of the building becomes a huge display network. In essence the outside of the building represents the inside of the building. The space and the physical body is represented as a huge display. The cctv images and the protected data is externalised and made public. There is nothing to hide. Everything is made transparent.

Output.

- through online environment for monitoring of cameras for open access

- back into urban spaces as installations controlled via touch screen

- projected into fabric as real time film of the internalised space.

- re made into a real building whose whole architecture is the data from the inside of the internalised space.

- representation of flow in building and space.

LEGAL ISSUES FOR CCTV

There are a whole series of legal issues surrounding the use and misuse of CCTV. CCTV data is protected by the data protection act and these acts vary from country to country and across borders. You have rights to view these images although the copyright image owners will not be yours even if you are the subject.

Anyone recorded on cctv also has he right to request a copy of the cctv footage.

In terms of my project, this is the legal advice from a lawyer I was given:

It seems there are two choices

1. Approach the Information Commissioner for guidance which is likely to take some time but will be definitive.

2. Ensure that the use of the CCTV system is likely to be outside the scope of the Data Protection Act 1998 or will be exempt from under the Act.

Basically the conditions one would need to follow, to broadcast the CCTV footage (via web, pdas etc), for your projects are:

- The use of fixed specified cameras that are not focused on individuals (although you will note many organizations do this, but they don't broadcast the information)

- Ensure to make individuals non-recognisable (ie. Through some manipulation/blurring of the image).

- Provide signage and information so that the public are aware of the project and its intended use.

- The footage would be used for a creative project only and this makes you exempt from the data protection act.

Publicity by Stanza....2004. A series of works based on CCTV and security systems and public interaction. A series of artworks using CCTV systems in the environment to make artworks.

Funding.

Although version one prototype was made and finished in 2004 this project still needs funding to take it to the next stage both financial and also collaborative support FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY, and to find venues who are interested in doing this.

Venues where this would be good include the new extension to Tate Modern, Colleges, Hospitals.

This project requires further funding for specialised installation set up using multiple projectors and specialised display technology.

In order to re -represent real time cctv footage online and in an installation space a whole series of technical issues need to be overcome , the fundamental one being how to deal with such a large multiple frame rate over the net. I have already made a number of solutions, and work arounds.

However I am seeking consultation in order to move this technically to the next level. I need access to other cctv networks, to broadband network technicians, and to camera makers and consultants.

Initial research AND prototype development was supported by Nesta and the Clarks Bursary 2004.

Publicity by Stanza....2004. A series of works based on CCTV and security systems and public interaction. A series of artworks using CCTV systems in the environment to make artworks.

Other related stanza works using CCTV.

SOUL uses cctv to make large scale outdoor events.....http://www.stanza.co.uk/ideasrus/soul/index.html
Live Data on the roof of the Watershed .........http://www.stanza.co.uk/ideasrus/display/index.htm
Online 3d sculpure using live CCTV..............http://www.stanza.co.uk/micro_city/index.html
Urban Generation real installation in gallery using CCTV .......http://www.stanza.co.uk/urban_tapestry/index.html
Spying on crowds in NYC ........http://www.stanza.co.uk/i_spy/index.htm

All images, text and artwork (c) STANZA 2003 - 4

www.stanza.co.uk

email: stanza@sublime.net