VIDEO WEBCAST

Access

(2003) 4'25"
Marie Sester Project Page | Add Webcast to My Artbox

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Marie Sester's Access is a public art installation that applies web, computer, sound and lighting technology in which a robotic spotlight controlled by web-users tracks individuals in public spaces. An acoustic beam system directs sounds onto the same tracked persons, projecting audio that only he/she can hear. The individual does not know who is tracking him/her or why he/she is being tracked. Nor is he/she aware of being the only person among the public hearing the sound. The tracker doesn't know his/her action triggers sound towards the target. In effect, both the tracker and the tracked are in a paradoxical communication loop.

Access addresses and explores the impact of surveillance and detection within contemporary society. It presents control tools that combine surveillance technology with the advertising and Hollywood industries, creating an intentionally ambiguous situation, revealing the obsession-fascination for control, visibility, and vigilance: scary or fun.

Some individuals may not like the ideal of being under surveillance, and some individuals may love the attention.

This video is from the Access installation at Ars Electronica 2003.