Title of the compilation: La Mirada del Testigo. El Acecho del Guardian.
Title: Polephemus` Eye (1/4, Track 01)
Publisher: Sala Amarica, Diputación Foral de Alava
Date: 1998
Medium: CD in exhibition catalogue
Concha Jerez & José Iges developed the work Polephemus` Eye for the Ars Elecronica Festival 1997 in Linz. It is an installation consisting of several monitors and cameras, which is based on the scene in a surveillance station. Different cameras record images that can be seen on the monitors. The central monitor of the arrangement shows recordings played back from DVD.
The work critically examines the increasing surveillance of public space, especially through the use of cameras, both those of public agencies and private webcams. It addresses the loss of privacy in public space, the voyeurism of observers, the analysis and control of events and questions the democratic foundation concerning these practices. The installation juxtaposes spaces, makes them directly comparable and also subjects the surveillance space itself to surveillance through a surveillance camera.
The audios of the project are part of the DVD that is played through the central monitor in the installation. They are published on a CD that accompanies the catalogue book La Mirada del Testigo. El Acecho del Guardian is included, which was produced as part of a 1998 exhibition at the Sala Amárica in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The first of four parts can be heard here.
PS