Julia Scher Information America 1995

  • Not on view

In the early 1990s, Scher encountered a consumer database sold by the Lotus software company that, as the artist explains, “provided a guidance system in which one’s understanding of controls, of the command structure of the computer, was key to accessing information.” Information America connects a closed-circuit surveillance camera system, taking in and displaying video feeds of the gallery in real time, with a console for data collection. Since Scher made this work, private information, including user data, has become a commodity to be harvested, exploited, and controlled on a vast scale.

Gallery label from Signals: How Video Transformed the World, March 5–July 8, 2023
Medium
Metal office desk, five 9" NTSC monitors with metal wall brackets, 13" color monitor, plastic and vinyl signage, three black-and-white surveillance cameras, removable lenses, transformers, video matrix switchers, two time-lapse recorders, Amiga A1200HD computer, Sony Watch-Cam, two media players, desk lamp, office chair, wires and cables
Dimensions
Dimensions variable
Credit
The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund
Object number
218.2020
Copyright
© 2023 Julia Scher
Department
Media and Performance

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