The Parisian surveillance system is a set of interconnected CCTVs which produces its own pattern of behavior over time. The interrelations between the observer and the observee within the system evolve together according to urban circumstances. 

This network can be interpreted as follows: the visible and the invisible. The visible contains the camera’s configuration as well as the crowd’s actions. The invisible is the control the camera exercises over the public who in consequence, self-regulates. As a comparison to Michel Foucault’s Panopticon, the network of CCTVs acts as the prison’s surveillance tower. Consequently, the power dynamic is shifted in favor of the camera’s gaze, who’s mere presence alters the citizen’s behavior without physical intervention.

Through an animated grid, we displayed surveillance footage we shot ourselves of a specific area in each districts of Paris, taking on the camera’s gaze in an attempt to reverse the roles and challenge the power dynamic imposed on us. The aesthetic chosen serves well to this purpose as it simulates the typical surveillance room flooded with screens and different camera angles showing up. Additionally, there is a performative aspect for the two following reasons. Firstly, the fact that we were standing right under the cameras and shooting the public with our mundane 21st century gadgets such as an iPhone and a selfie stick is a statement in itself; we do to ourselves what the system does to us with our “own hands”. Secondly, we are democratizing this provocation as the audience that views the artwork is also elevated to the institution and government’s position of power and omnipresence. The gif rendering was a design choice and a personalized touch inspired by internet content (see inspiration frame in Miro). In those ways we’ve re-interpreted the surveillance network of the French capital, representing the visible and the invisible affects and playing with the power roles .

A loophole or blindspot to this piece is the fact that it wasn’t shown in realtime, however raw and truthful the footage is. Additionally, one could think that it’s paradoxical to “fight” control, dominance and omnipresence by doing the same.

Link to final presentation : https://drive.google.com/file/d/10I421qtSrtQwQCQ9tansuinjfV_DivDR/view?usp=sharing

Link to Miro Research : https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_kvERmSc=/