From January 6 - February 18, Presentation House Gallery, in conjuction with the

by Sharo

Body, Mind and Technology series, presented the work of Toronto-based artist David

Rokeby. Rokeby graduated with honours in Experimental Art from OCA in 1984,

and became internationally known for his piece “Very Nervous System” at the
5 Venice Biennale in 1986. Since then he has been widely recognized for his contri-

@ e

C

un
o
“n
=)
fe)
9
Ge,
me)
>
60

2
°
=I

a
Uv
oO
od

vv
<
fas)
Cd
(=
fo]
9
ww
Cc

co)
=)
=

va)

ahanoff

T
=
I
=

| walk into the darkened gallery through a black
curtain and as | enter the space, | hear the loaded
sound of a camera - “click.” | look around warily
to see the black eye that is observing me but | can’t
find it. (I feel like an animal hiding in the forest,
unsure of the position of my enemy, and I’ve just
heard the unmistakable sound of a branch “snap”
nearby.) The anxiety | feel is heightened by sounds
in the gallery - an erratic heartbeat, breathing and
a clock ticking. | stand tense. As my eyes get accus-
tomed to the darkness, | notice that there are
three stools at one end of the room, and a low-
level light directly above them. (“Hmm, will | be
interrogated?”) | make my way toward the stools,
aware that | am alone.

that

omnipotent
central eye

| sit down. There are two black and white images
in front of me. On the left - a video of a street cor-
ner - but something's weird.... I’m sure it’s video but
nothing’s moving. Cars, trucks and the occasional
person emerge and dissolve on the spot... like a
magic trick. Some things remain longer on the
screen than others, some hardly take form and
then melt away... ghost images that seem to leave a
residue. My eyes pan across to the other screen.
On the right - also video of a street corner - but
again there’s a problem... the image has no back-
ground. The picture is black with thin white lines
that outline shapes in action, like the video version
of a contour drawing or sketch... animated tracers
that move across the screen, some whizzing, others
shuffling.

My frame widens out, now both images are in my
view and | realize, it’s the same street corner;
they're just mirror images of one another. On the
left | am presented with all that is still (similar to
the effects of a pin-hole camera), on the right | am
seeing a negative image of all that is moving (like
the heat-vision mode of the infra-red military cam-
eras you see on tv.) My mind puts the two pic-
tures together. | see the geography of the street
on the left, and a woman pushing a baby stroller on
the right. My imagination flips her image and
superimposes it onto the geography. Then | switch
screens and superimpose the geography onto her.
“It’s amazing...’ On the right a truck drives up to
the intersection, there is an outline of a woman
beside him in the middle seat. Quite suddenly the
image disappears on the right and slowly emerges
on the left... “I get it!” The couple stopped at the
intersection. My mind delights in swapping images,
scenarios and people back and forth between the
screens. I’m creating narratives... Wait a minute... |
know that street corner, it’s right outside the
gallery!

Upon entering the dark space, the iconic sound of
a camera shutter gives visceral meaning to
“watch,” the title of the piece. Paranoia is instant
and exacerbated by the inability of viewers to see
the camera that has committed the infraction A
heartbeat, breathing, and the ticking of a clock can
also be heard in the room. The nature of these

sounds as automatic, constant, and pervasive
becomes attached by association to the invisible
camera and to the act of looking itself. Foucault's
“Panopticon” comes immediately to mind - that
omnipotent central eye which, from its hidden
place, sees all, eliminating privacy and confining
the individual through a constant threat of possible
punishment.

| hear the
sound of a
camera click

On the gallery wall is a split screen projection of

‘féal-time images from a surveillance camera posi-

tioned at an intersection outside the gallery.
Software is used to split, process and distort the
images. One screen makes visible those things
which are still, anything moving is only seen as a
faint blur across the visual plane. The other screen
makes visible only those things which are moving,
anything still is presented as a black void. (The
software designed to create this image relies upon
the technology that records the license plates of
speeding cars.) People and cars that move through
the intersection are depicted as white moving out-
lines on a black background. Looking at both
images together, it's as if one is seeing composite
video forcibly separated into parts.

The images are presented side by side, with the sec-
ond image made to be a mirror image of the first.
The piece offers a kind of conceptual stereoscopy.
(Stereoscopy is what allows people to see in three
dimensions. One eye sees one image, the other eye
sees another and the two are synthesized in the
brain producing depth of perspective.) Watching
Rokeby's piece requires a synthesis: In order to
understand what is occurring outside the gallery,
each frame of real-time video must be reversed,
flipped and super-imposed in the mind's eye. This
mental gymnastics brings “watching” out of the
realm of “unconscious acts” and into that of the
conscious ones, creating an awareness that looking
is an act; a combination between the biology of
vision and the section process. What Rokeby has
created is an artificial perception system: The com-
puter is determining how it sees - a separation of
moving and still objects (biology) and the camera is
determining what it sees (selection process) “trans-
forming the process of looking” itself and with it
“..a transformation of the apparent ‘meaning’ of
what is being watched.” (-Rokeby)

g
2
Zz
2
5

<
5
°
6
&
=
z
fa
.
5
2
q
5
a
a
zZ

From January 6 - February 18, Presentation House Gallery, in conjuction with the

and becam
3 Venice Biennale in 1986. Since then he has been widely recognized for his contri-

é
2
6
fc)
5
.
3
5
=
g
s

g

z

a
Fy

3

@"

bution to art and technology discourses.

fy
5
FH
3
g

| walk into the darkened gallery through a black
curtain and as | enter the space, | hear the loaded
sound of a camera - “click” | look around warily
to see the black eye that is observing me but | can't
find it. (| feel like an animal hiding in the forest,
unsure of the position of my enemy, and I've just
heard the unmistakable sound of a branch “‘snap”
nearby.) The anxiety I feel is heightened by sounds
in the gallery - an erratic heartbeat, breathing and
a clock ticking. | stand tense. As my eyes get accus-
tomed to the darkness, | notice that there are
three stools at one end of the room, and a low-
level light directly above them. (Hmm, will | be
interrogated?”) I make my way toward the stools,
aware that | am alone.

that

omnipotent
central eye

| sit down. There are two black and white images
in front of me. On the left -a video of a street cor-
nner - but something's weird...1'm sure it's video but
nothing's moving. Cars, trucks and the occasional
person emerge and dissolve on the spot... like a
magic trick. Some things remain longer on the
screen than others, some hardly take form and
then melt away...ghost images that seem to leave a
residue. My eyes pan across to the other screen
(On the right - also video of a street corner - but
again there’ a problem... the image has no back-
ground. The picture is black with thin white lines
that outline shapes in action, like the video version
‘of a contour drawing or sketch... animated tracers
that move across the screen, some whizzing, others
shuffling.

My frame widens out, now both images are in my
view and | realize, its the same street corner;
they're just mirror images of one another. On the
left | am presented with all that is still (similar to
the effects of a pin-hole camera), on the right | am
seeing a negative image of all that is moving (like
the heat-vision mode of the infra-red military cam-
eras you see on tv.) My mind puts the two pic-
tures together. | see the geography of the street
on the left, and a woman pushing a baby stroller on
the right. My imagination flips her image and
superimposes it onto the geography. Then | switch
screens and superimpose the geography onto her.
“Ie’s amazing..." On the right a truck drives up to
the intersection, there is an outline of a woman
beside him in the middle seat. Quite suddenly the
image disappears on the right and slowly emerges
‘on the left..“I get it!” The couple stopped at the
intersection. My mind delights in swapping images,
scenarios and people back and forth between the
screens. I'm creating narratives... Wait a minute...
know that street corner, it’s right outside the
gallery!

Upon entering the dark space, the iconic sound of
a camera shutter gives visceral meaning to
‘watch,” the title of the piece. Paranoia is instant
and exacerbated by the inability of viewers to see
the camera that has committed the infraction A
heartbeat, breathing, and the ticking of a clock can

also be heard in the room. The nature of these
sounds as automatic, constant, and pervasive
becomes attached by association to the invisible
camera and to the act of looking itself, Foucault's
“Panopticon” comes immediately to mind - that
omnipotent central eye which, from its hidden
place, sees all, eliminating privacy and confinin
the individual through a constant threat of possible
punishment.

| hear the
sound of a
camera click

Qn the gallery wall is a split screen projection of
‘eal-time im:

from a surveillance camera posi-
tioned at an intersection outside the gallery
Software is used to split, process and distort the
images. One screen makes visible those things
which are still, anything moving is only seen as a
faint blur across the visual plane. The other screen
makes visible only those things which are moving,
anything still is presented as a black void. (The
software designed to create this image relies upon
the technology that records the license plates of
speeding cars.) People and cars that move through
the intersection are depicted as white moving out-
lines on a black background. Looking at both

S together, it's as if one is seeing composite
video forcibly separated into parts

The images are presented side by side, with the s

ond image made to be a mirror image of the first.
The piece offers a kind of conceptual stereoscopy
(Stereoscopy is what allows people to see in three
dimensions. One eye sees one i
sees another and the two are synthesized in the
brain producing depth of perspective.) Watching
Rokeby's piece requires a synthesis: In order to

the other eye

understand what is occurring outside the galle

ich frame of real-time video must be reversed,
flipped and super-imposed in the mind’s eye. This
mental isties brings “ out of the
realm of “unconscious acts” and into that of the
conscious ones, creating an awareness that looking
is an act; a

vision and the section proc
created is an artificial perception sys

forming the process of looking” itself and with it
a transformation of the apparent ‘meaning’ of
what is being watched.” (-R