Video Black




My generation has, for the most part, grown up with the assumption that we might be on camera at any time. Surveillance cameras are a natural part of the environment to me. I don't think I questioned the power of surveillance until I read 1984 for the first time in high school. If a camera is gathering information, and therefore acquiring power, then that information must belong to someone or something. It exists somewhere. I really appreciate the first page of "Video Black" because the author understands and plays into human fascination with the camera. It is captivating to think of a 20-year-record of one place that would tell countless stories. Another thing of interest in surveillance: what you can't see. Bruce Nauman (picture) explores this in a lot of his work involving surveillance, but especially this one. I experienced this at MoMA and it stuck with me. There is a white cube installation in the middle of a gallery. On one upper corner of each wall, there is a camera that captures footage of the wall it is next to--not installed on. There is also a TV on the floor next to each wall. As you walk around the cube, you almost see yourself in the footage on the TV, but right as you turn the corner, it's gone. It's a simple trick that made me want to go around and around and around just to see if I could "beat" it somehow.


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