Class 5 | Assignment | System Thinking | Strategy Prototype
"Create a response to the strategies of using maps or systems to explore something invisible or little-known. This could be a map we use for a self-guided tour, a tour we do with you as a guide, a record of your own exploration as an ethnographer or infrastructure “spy” etc."
Last week, I looked at Trevor Paglen’s documentary work “Deep Web Dive" on privacy matter and mass surveillance, so this week, I started to think and look deeper at this concept in relation to myself. I decided to investigate my fast and furious life at ITP. Personally, my grad life at ITP is very hectic right now with many new things to learn, to experiment, and most importantly to fail as much as I can! The one thing that I do routinely is my commute from home to ITP and back to home. Then, I mapped out my day-to-day routine in a diagram below.
Diagram 1: Day-to-Day Routine
Diagram 2: Expanded Day-to-Day Routine
Daily Commute Mapped out via Google Maps App
Daily Commute
As I walk along the street, I began to look up more and more, and be aware of my surroundings, especially spotting the cameras everywhere I go. I have never really pay attention, besides I’m from Thailand where security cameras hardly ever work properly and it’s more of a prop.
Photography of Street Cams along the mapped route
I took a lot of photos of street security cameras along with I mapped out route. They appeared to be as though I am taking photos of city’s sceneries and the lives of New Yorkers lifestyle. i.e. people smoking on the side of the building, crossing the crossroads, people chatting. But, what was interesting juxtaposing the ordinary of people's lives are the hidden infrastructure of a big brother watching you in the background. This makes me questions, if they are aware of that they are being watched? Do they feel safer having these street cameras everywhere? How many of them actually works?
My personal response to this week’s assignment as an ethnographer has kind of developed from something that I often neglected which is the idea of being watched and provide me a better sense of self-awareness of my surroundings. I mean the surveillance cameras is not invisible to our perception. We can see these cameras, they are sticking out of the building's facades and just a few feet above our head and yet there are warning signs installed right in front of our eye level.
The sign was not there before. The video I made confirms it. This makes me question, what did people do here that imposes the NYU Public Safety to put up the sign, since the cameras are only a few feet above our heads. (I assume that the bikes get stolen a lot)
Research continues.....
Number of Street Cams
I counted 195 CAMERAS that I can see along my commute.
Google Maps App Street View
I also looked at Google Maps app since I usually check my route every morning before I leave, incase there are any problems with L train. I used it more often in the first month when I arrived.
I can personally say that the journey and a sense of discovery differs when I looked through Google Maps in comparison to actually walking the route. And it's not that the buildings in Google Maps are not up to date, I think I have become more aware and pay more attention to the things after taking your class. Putting my iPhone away and walking at a much slower pace while actually doing this assignment help too.
Home [918 Hart St] to Dekalb Station
Soooooooo...........
After series of research of Google Maps App (Subway Route and it's 3D street view), photography experiments, counting the cameras along the path and talking extensively with you, Marina, I believed I start to understand a bit more on how this class works.....well anyway, what I ended up doing is I filmed 6 short timelapse footages, imitating the security's location and angles.
I made a quick DIY selfie sticks from a T-Ruler from the ITP shop to get the height and angle.
SURVEILANCE TIMELAPSES
CCTV Test 1: Corner of Tisch Building. Opposite of Fresh & Co.
CCTV Test 2: Corner of Tisch Building. Opposite of Fresh & Co.
CCTV Test 3: Elevator
CCTV Test 4: Fire Escape
CCTV Test 5: ITP Lounge
The first five footages are very typical of how people doing their own thing until Leon and Shelly figured out what I was doing. I think now I get to have actors performing in my representational art?
CCTV Test 6: ITP Shop
Artist: Jill Magid giving a talk on Art of Surveillance.
I also looked at the artist’s you suggested. How did she pull this off?! and even to hear the Liverpool Police guiding her in the footage…. I really want to see the behind the scenes.