People Staring at Computers
“People Staring at Computers” is a photographic intervention.
I wrote a simple application that took one picture every minute. If it found a face, it uploaded the photo to my server. I installed the app around NYC over three days, collecting more than a thousand photos.
Before sharing the photos online, I decided to exhibit them in the same places they were originally captured. So I wrote another app that could be remotely triggered after being installed on all the computers in one location. When the app starts up, it takes a picture and slowly fades in that photo. A moment later, it starts cycling through older photos.
Most people instinctively quit the app less than 10 seconds after recognizing their own face, so the exhibition was relegated to the unused machines.
(Images replaced by Evan on July 15, 2011)
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COMMENTS
kyle added these pithy words on Jul 05 11 at 12:26 pmnot from anyone on location. during the exhibition, people were just confused and laughed. when asking the employees if it was generally ok to take photos and video, they not only said “yes”, they encouraged it.
bernardo added these pithy words on Jul 05 11 at 5:51 pmwell this why.
the true meaning for freedom
and the true resolution for it: we can’t stand ourselves….
ttttt added these pithy words on Jul 05 11 at 6:09 pmwelcome to FAT Kyle. welcome to FAT.
ttttt added these pithy words on Jul 05 11 at 6:12 pmforced dailybooth.com haha
Aram added these pithy words on Jul 07 11 at 4:51 pmFREE KYLE!!
Feds visit artist behind People Staring at Computers, confiscate laptop
http://eyeteeth.blogspot.com/2011/07/feds-visit-artist-behind-people-staring.html
ernie nitka added these pithy words on Jul 07 11 at 5:22 pmWhy would the Feds be involved? Apple is a private corp. ??!! Shit we have at least three regional research labs in this country that got hacked this weekend and this is what they want to concentrate on – total fukin BS
Joe added these pithy words on Jul 08 11 at 10:35 pmStand up for your rights. If you can be fleeced daily by a corporation, then they can put up with the idiosyncrasies that comes along with their customers. I can’t believe the Secret Service is involved with this. Consuming entertainment media all day long is a recipe for forgetting history. Remember the SS.
theiPatch dotCom added these pithy words on Jul 09 11 at 5:25 amThis app was installed without an Administrator account, yet it can control the webcam & upload images remotely.
How long until this app installs itself on to the laptop in your bedroom?
jay moore added these pithy words on Jul 09 11 at 6:13 amDid Kyle install the app or just run it off a stick and remove the stick? Apple puts these things in its Stores for people to try out, they don’t force anyone to sign any agreements before they try out running a program on them, or limiting what programs they are allowed to run. Can’t see any wrongdoing here.
1080p added these pithy words on Jul 16 11 at 3:39 pmworking site here:
Kootenay added these pithy words on Jul 19 11 at 9:35 pmIt’s one thing to take people’s photos, with or without their permission, in a public place. In a private space, it’s invasion of their privacy without their consent. And, as theiPatch dotCom says, whose to stop creepy people from installing such a program on people’s home laptops and computers? Think of what happened to those schoolkids in Lower Merion, PA, when a creepy administrator was taking photos of them and storing them. Get people’s permission first for your art projects if you’re in a private space; instead, undertake it in a public space, using your own equipment. And please, leave underage children out of it!
jaundist added these pithy words on Jul 20 11 at 2:11 amIt will be a cold day in heaven when the strains of “Don’t let money fool you” by the OJ’s ring out in the halls of 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA.
AM added these pithy words on Jul 20 11 at 8:25 amHuh!
it didn’t seem like the time to fight a free speech issue …” said Evan Roth.Who are you trying to kid? this has nothing to do with free speech, it’s to do with you doing what you want to do regardless of anyone else’s right to privacy.
It’s immature, irresponsible and crass – not in the least bit cool!Now,if Apple are doing the same and using face recognition software to identify the people in the screens that’s different and the project could have been done with informed consent, in such a way that would highlight Corporation, Big Business spying on people and invasion of privacy.
Shame you didn’t think that one through – it’s stupid actions like this that make for more control.
Arlene added these pithy words on Jul 20 11 at 8:15 pmThe real problem with this is computer pictures of people staring at screens are aesthetically ugly. The double chins, the total lack of self-consciousness — ultra-real to a fault.
Aram Bartholl added these pithy words on Jul 25 11 at 6:41 pmhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/nyregion/at-2-apple-stores-creating-art-via-webcam-secretly.html
INCOMING LINKS
- People Staring at Computers | Samuel Cox – Blog
- Photos of People Staring at Computers
- Apple Store Spycam Artist Busted by the Secret Service | HyperVocal
- KTRV Fox 12 Ex-Cameron aide arrested in UK hacking scandal – Fox12Idaho | CORRUPTION!
- wchulseiee.net
- weapons of massdistraction › Figuring Out Where To Land
- Secret Service Descends on Artist For Mildly Creepy Public Photography – JailBake
- Stories With Masks | Life Story Now
- People Staring at Computers: lo sguardo discreto delle merci – Neural.it :: nuovi media, hacktivismo « HyperHouse
- The Electronic Walls Have Eyes
- The Electronic Walls are Watching You | Post-Luddite Institute
@fffffat
