Looking Outwards: Temporal Captures

**Redid Looking Outwards for MORE explorative projects**

1. Dries Depoorter, The Follower (2023-2024)

https://driesdepoorter.be/thefollower/

I found this absolutely incredible project by an artist who takes an individual’s Instagram picture and uses a surveillance camera company called EarthCam to show the real-time process of that individual attempting to capture the very image they posted to Instagram. Depoorter essentially exposes the real-time workflow behind an Instagram capture, illustrating the the ironic relationship between personal photo consent and public surveillance consent.

The-Follower-Dries-Depoorter-04.gif
The Follower

It delves into the disconcerting nature of surveillance, revealing that not only are individuals monitored in their everyday lives, but the very moment they take a photo to later upload for their followers is also captured and watched. It visualizes the capture process, an individual walking around, chasing poses, checking out the camera, and highlights the damaging implications of surveillance in connection to social media. I absolutely LOVE this project because it underscores the irony that, while taking an Instagram photo, individuals often remain unaware of the broader watchful eyes observing them. It’s so easy to piece together someone’s digital footprint, it’s scary regarding the possible implications: stalking or used as a resource by police to track convicted individuals/solve a case.

 

To perform a version of the artist’s experiment, a New York Times photographer was captured, Instagram ready, in popular tourist spots
A screen grab from an EarthCam camera in Times Square showing the photographer, John Taggart, to the right of the TKTS sign.

Depoorter would download public photos from Instagram using the locations individuals tagged in their posts. Deeporter collected the live online feeds from Earth Cam over a two-week period. He then developed a software that compares the Instagram images with the EarthCam recorded footage. 

Interestingly enough, Instagram responded saying that ” ‘collecting information in an automated way’ is a violation of the company’s terms of use and can get a user banned… We’ve reached out to the artist to learn more about this piece and understand his process. Privacy is a top priority for us, as is protecting people’s information when they share content on our platforms.”

 

Mr. Taggart on Mulberry Street in Little Italy in Manhattan

 

A screen grab from EarthCam. Mr. Taggart is wearing black with his hands up.Credit…

When I logged onto EarthCam.com, I was amazed to discover it provides the public with real-time surveillance from various landmark locations worldwide. Originally intended (with good intentions) to allow people to experience places they may never visit in person, I was shocked to learn that it also features surveillance of major landmarks not only in the U.S. but also in hundreds of countries abroad such as Brazil and Bali. EarthCam’s live broadcasting of people’s activities in public spaces without their knowledge—and making this technology, and livestream footage from the previous days, publicly accessible—is absolutely insane. When probed by the New York Times to answer questions on the project and the risk their camera’s pose to individual’s privacy, the marketing director only sayd that Mr. Deeporter used the “imagery and video without authorization and such usage is in violation of our copyright” (nyt). Depoorter responded by saying that “It’s not only EarthCam… There are many unprotected cameras all over the world.”

From the comfort of my couch, I’m currently watching individuals in real-time on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on a Saturday night. EarthCam operates cameras in all 50 states; and Pittsburgh has several, including one at Andy Warhol’s grave, where unknowing visitors come to pay their respects, while others who know EarthCam, turn around and wave. Depoorter’s project forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth about our digital lives and the extent to which we are all under surveillance, raising critical questions about privacy and consent in an age dominated by social media.

Bourbon Street

https://www.earthcam.com/usa/louisiana/neworleans/bourbonstreet/?cam=bourbonstreet

Couple waving at Warhol’s grave in Bethel Park

https://www.earthcam.com/usa/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/warhol/?cam=warhol_figmentstream

1. Max_woanygolf (TikTok), Two Guys, Golf, & an Egg (2023-2024)

I came across this moving video on Twitter where two guys are playing golf, aiming to hit an egg. The camera is positioned directly behind the egg, making it feel like you’re standing right there, with the golf balls flying toward your face. As I watched, I couldn’t help but twitch and flinch, instinctively pulling my head back, thinking a golf ball was coming straight at my face. I even had to remind myself to breathe! I bring up this particular piece because the placement of the camera in this shot induces stress of the experience, you keep feeling like this object is coming right towards you, fueling an adventure with adrenaline, capturing an experience that most people wouldn’t normally willingly choose to be part of. The part where I had realized I let out a breathe was when the egg was finally hit. The camera angle, not necessarily a moving camera, captures the movement of the golf ball, almost watching as it slows down in the air.  Not only is the action caught by the single camera behind the egg, but there is another camera capturing the upclose reactions of the golfers as they hit the ball.

Moment of Implosion

https://x.com/JohnCremeansUSA/status/1843819501068116445/video/1

@tsn

CAN THEY HIT THE EGG?! 😳🥚🎯 (Via: max_woanygolf/TT) #golf #trickshot #challenge #egg

♬ original sound – TSN

OLD

1. Anish Kapoor, Descension (2015)

Anish Kapoor’s Perpetual Black Water Whirlpool Installed in the Floor of a Former Movie Theater in Italy

 

2. Néle Azevedo, Minimum Monument (2014)

Hundreds of Melting Ice Figures Echo the Intensifying Threat of the Climate Crisis in Néle Azevedo’s Public Works

 

 

3. Bruce Nauman, Walks in Walks Out (2015)

https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artwork/55855/Bruce-Nauman-Walks-In-Walks-Out?lang=en

Excerpt of Bruce

Best Video of Bruce from Art Basel Exhibition https://www.facebook.com/M23Projects/videos/bruce-nauman-walks-in-walks-out-2015-brucenauman-tate-tatemodern-london-03-octob/415913112189000/

 

 

4. Random International, [Untitled] (2012)

https://www.random-international.com/rain-room-2012

One of my FAVORITE projects of all time, I HAD to include it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkvazIZx-F0