Don't be silly. I am always watching.
Spyglass was installed on 11.22.13 and 11.23.13. The site-specific manifestation of the project is completed when passerby look at the glass for a reason other than vanity: to examine the images of others examining themselves.
Spyglass
The split-second decision to look in the reflective glass of
the Concert Hall as you walk by is one every passerby must make. The decision
to check out that nice new hairdo, or act like you don't see your reflection,
is affected by one’s perception of visibility: am I alone or not?
You are never really alone.
The desire to capture the pure instant of perceived privacy within a public space inspired us to create Spyglass. The photographer hid behind the reflective glass to steal the private moment of the subject examining his or herself from a displaced vantage point, disrupting the subject’s perceptual navigation of the environment.
We discovered that nearly everybody takes a peak at his or her reflection when they think no one is watching, or without what Jacques Lacan described as "the anxious state that comes with the awareness that one can be viewed." Photographing the self-reflexive gaze without the presence of this anxious state is the conceptual basis of Spyglass. We were able to capture the unassuming subject in their purest, most natural state.
By displaying these prints we mean you no embarrassment, nor do we hope to deter you from self-examination in these windows. We would like to show you the purity in the unselfconscious gaze.
If you or someone you know is the subject of a portrait and
they have concerns about their image on display, please have them contact
begleym@carleton.edu
Surveillance/Exams: students going to take exams accosted by photographs of themselves or their peers they never knew were taken.
Surveillance team:
Ben Walsh
Mary Begley
Schuyler Sher
still watching,
mdb
