May -June 2007
CCTV Split Screen
was created using four CCTV cameras positioned in 4 different rooms of my house. I purchased a four way USB adaptor that could connect to 4 CCTV cameras and record simultaneously. The short video shows an ambigious narrative that plays on the issues of intrusive voyeurism via a CCTV camera and paranoia through being watched.

CCTV Split Screen 1



CCTV Split Screen 2

24 May 2007

Recording Video Sniffin'

After finding the 'hot spots' in Nottingham City Centre (Please see the map below) I went back to record the footage I had picked up previously from a session of video sniffin'. However, the footage I gathered was unclear and fuzzy and would not be worth showing as a video. I have realised that video sniffin' is more about the experience of trying to find a signal and spending time trying to figure out where the signal is coming from rather than using the footage to show as a document or create a narrative.

18 May 2007

Lovebytes Festival, Sheffield

Video Sniffin' in Sheffield I met up with Dave Valentine (Temporary Media Shed) again to show him the equipment I had been using for video sniffin' and to try to find out why I wasnt receiving a clear image and why I couldn't put the video camera in to record mode. Dave resolved the recording issue, it seems with the SONY 1.5 mega pixel Mini DV camera required two buttons to be pressed at once- the record button and the pause button, while in VHS mode. As for the unclear images produced by the wireless CCTV cameras this could be due to the quality of the video camera and that it wasnt made to receive AV inputs but rather AV outputs.

16 May 2007

Video Sniffin' around West Bridgford

I was unsuccessful at finding any wireless CCTV cameras. Although I found some very strong signals for digital TV and a few signals that could possibly be CCTV but none strong enough to produce a clear image on the monitor or video screen. I will continue to 'video sniff' around other areas of West Bridgford and also the town centre. Although I think many shops and companies have wired CCTV cameras rather than wireless so this is why I am unable to 'sniff out' any wireless CCTV. The best option to seek out wireless CCTV would be to 'sniff around' small shops and companies as these are less likely to have expensive wired CCTV cameras that are linked to a computer system.

12 May 2007

Video Sniffin'

Video Sniffin' is an easy way to pick up video footage via CCTV cameras. This technique was introduced to me when I went to the Enter_ Unknown Territories New Technology Festival in Cambridge. Temporary Media shed were running a free workshop and showing visitors how to pick up wireless CCTV.

The technique includes a CCTV tuner, battery pack, video camera or monitor and AV lead to connect the tuner to the video camera/monitor. By 'Sniffin' out small local shops that use wireless CCTV the frequency can be picked up by the tuner and recorded via the video camera in VCR mode.

I have spoken to Dave Valentine regarding his technique and will discuss my techniques with him again via email or at the Love Bytes festival in Sheffield where he will be teaching the Video Sniffin' workshops.

1-5 May 2007

Spyhole at Transition Exhibition

Influences
My interest for the use of CCTV cameras within my practical work was purely on a voyeuristic level. I wanted to explore human behaviour and how this behaviour and attitude towards the camera changed when realising they were being watched. The extrovert will usually perform for the camera, while the introvert will cover their face and hide from the camera’s gaze.
The shift from watching horror and thriller films to using CCTV cameras was fuelled by films that exposed voyeurism.
Peeping Tom has been praised for its psychological complexity. Several critics argue that the film is as much about the voyeurism of the audience as they watch the protagonist's actions. For example, Roger Ebert, in his review of the film, states that "The movie make us into voyeurs. We sit in the dark, watching other people's lives. It is the bargain the cinema strikes with us, although most films are too well-behaved to mention it."

Advice
After discussing with my peer group and tutor Frank it would seem that the aesthetic style in which I have applied to my work (using a roughly cut spy hole made from cardboard) works well, with the idea of the voyeur and the peeping tom. Sticky fingerprints and sweat marks can be left behind on the cardboard. With the idea of a peep show in mind I have decided to experiment with different cheap materials such as brown tape, wall paper and paper to create a spy hole. I may even add a pungent smell of cheap aftershave and cigarettes to the installation.

The final installation

Transition Exhibition offered a space to locate Spy Hole, the first piece of realised work that was shown during the MA Fine Art course outside of the university.
Using two CCTV cameras and three TV monitors, allowed visitors to view one another but never to confront their own gaze. The notion of voyeurism was patently explored via one monitor that was used to frame the visitor’s bum when they chose to look through a Spy Hole.

Spy Hole statement for Transition Exhibition:
Lucy Stevens is an ‘experiential’ artist, as the title suggests she wants the viewer to experience rather than observe the artwork. Spy hole uses CCTV cameras and monitors as a vehicle to explore the fear and pleasure in watching and being watched.

Development of Spyhole

After a tutorial with Frank it seemed that he thought Spy Hole would have been better displayed if I had thought through the domestic role of using wall paper and taken this role further by using flowered wall paper, tacky cocktail tables and old battered TV sets.This was my initial idea for Spy Hole but I felt that this aesthetic would be far too over the top and commanding. I also feel that this type of wallpaper would have gave the wrong impression of the work as if it were created just to shock and had used obvious domestic connotations that would have possibly taken over the actual Spy Hole.Spy Hole was something to stubble upon within the gallery space. The use of white 80’s textured wallpaper and television sets referred to my home life when growing up.

25/4/07
Testing CCTV cameras for Spy Hole
It occurred to me that my colour CCTV camera wasn’t working properly after testing it on four colour TV’s. I decided to buy a new colour CCTV and this works great on all of the TV monitors. Today I have been practicing with the set up for the exhibition in my studio space. The technical set up works well and there doesn’t seem to be any problems.
I now have to concentrate on the aesthetic set up regarding what materials I will use to contain the TV monitor and what type of monitors I will use to display live CCTV footage, either old retro monitors or flat screen monitors.
My original plan was to use 9 ml wooden walls to divide the space by having a spy hole in one space and an open installation space with two monitors on plinths in the other space. After discussing with my peer group and my tutor Frank it would seem that the aesthetic style in which I have set my work up (using a roughly cut spy hole made from cardboard) works well, along with the idea of the voyeur and the peeping tom. Sticky fingerprints and sweat marks can be left behind on the cardboard. Whereas a white wooden wall with a perfect hole doesn’t suggest the same type of narrative that is usually linked with peep shows. The material that separates the watched and the watcher is usually thin, unstable and grubby, showing signs of previous ‘wear and tear.’ With these thoughts of a peep show in mind I have decided to experiment with different materials such as brown tape, wall paper and paper to create a spy hole. I may even add a pungent smell of cheap aftershave and cigarettes to the installation.




20/4/07
Testing colour monitors
I have been using Panasonic and Phillips TV monitors to test my colour CCTV cameras to see if they produce colour successfully. I wasn’t sure if the CCTV camera was the problem or the television so I used a video camera and tested it on each monitor to see if it could 'read' colour.
I managed to find one colour monitor that worked with the CCTV camera, however this was when the camera was plugged into the TV and not the tuner (the camera is wireless and shouldn’t need to be plugged in to the TV). Although this isn’t a problem because I have adaptors for the phono leads to make them longer.
I think the CCTV camera didn’t have a strong enough signal to produce a colour image, because when it was linked directly to the TV the colour image appeared without a problem.

27/2/07
Delay Video 1
Two monitors were set up side by side. One CCTV camera was used to produce an image that was split between both monitors. The right hand monitor produced real time footage and the left hand monitor displayed delayed footage of 8 seconds. Therefore the left hand monitor was showing the viewer's actions and behaviour from the past. To be able to record and play the footage at the same time I had to use a DVD player with a buffer and hard drive this meant that it had the capability to record footage and show real time footage on one monitor and play it back at a delayed speed on the other monitor.



Delaying Time CCTV Circle
Two monitors were set up back to back. The same 'delayed' process was used again, although this time the delay was shorter because the viewer had to walk around the monitors to see there 'past self'. The delay was 3 seconds because the viewer would walk very quickly around the work to see themselves displayed on the other screen.

7 February 2007
CCTV Swap 2 Bonington Building, Nottingham Trent University

To receive a strong clear signal from the CCTV camera to the TV monitor was vital therefore I had to choose the installation rooms wisely. I was able to negotiate the use of an installation room and an office that were positioned directly under one other.
Each installation room was set up with a TV monitor, VHS player, CCTV camera, pen and paper and written instructions. Participants could see each other but not hear one another. The instructions suggested that the groups turn their mobile phones off to stop any interference to the live CCTV feed. Participants were told that they could move the CCTV camera and write messages on paper to each other. Each group was given 3 sentences to communicate with the other group, these were used as warm up questions to encourage both group to communicate. The sentences read “What did you have for lunch today?”
In CCTV Swap both groups of participants had the knowledge that they were being watched and communicated via CCTV cameras; by not having the oportunity to confront their own gaze they were constantly returning the gaze of the other group and neither had more power over the other.

Michel Foucault, who linked knowledge with power, related the 'inspecting gaze' to power rather than to gender in his discussion of surveillance (Foucault 1977).
This theory would suggest that by giving group (1) more information or an extra accessory (for example: access to view group (2) via a hidden camera) would shift the possession of power in favour of group 1.
Through the installations using CCTV cameras and TV monitors I was able to explore a playfull voyuerism between participants. However, after a tutorial it became apparent that the work was one-dimensional and it was received as a form of entertainment. I wanted to shift the practice so that it encompassed play and complete immersion to create uncertainty.

5 February 2007

Find the CCTV camera and win a prize! Bonington Building, Nottingham Trent University

A CCTV camera was hidden in the studio space of the Bonington building for 1 hour between 11.00am - 12.00pm. The CCTV camera was initially going to produce a live feed through the large plasma screen located outside the green room. However, the plasma screen requires a very strong signal for it to work properly and even when the camera was positioned close to the screen and tuner, no image was produced on the screen. I decided to use a TV monitor that I had been using previously to receive CCTV signals in and around the studio. The TV produced a clear live feed from the wireless CCTV camera and I was able to hide the camera further away from the tuner and TV monitor.

I was left a note from the the person that found the camera (the winner of the task) with their email address next to the CCTV camera saying that they had found it first. I sent an email to the anonymous person with four Ebay item numbers (although I didn't reveal in the email that the numbers were Ebay items). The item numbers were detective themed prizes. The winner had to choose 1 number to receive their prize, they chose a spy kit, which was wrapped and left in my studio space for them to collect.

27/1/07
Visual mixing CCTV cameras
After I had figured out how to set the mixer and record footage on to a VHS I began experimenting and playing with different effects taken from the live feed of two CCTV cameras. One camera was positioned on top of the TV pointing at me and the other was placed in the darkroom of my flat watching Simon develop photographs for an exhibition. I found that I could mix and merge the images together and use a wipe effect, which meant that we could appear on the screen at the same time. I feel that this merge of imagery and the ability to be able to see another person or location via the mixer could provide an exciting and engaging installation.

26/1/07

CCTV swap1 (living room)

I wanted to explore communication through CCTV cameras with my downstairs neighbours.

I positioned a CCTV camera in their living room on top of a table near to the TV. I had a CCTV camera positioned on top of my TV in my living room. The tuners were swapped over so that we could see each other in our living rooms. We tried to communicate with each other by using sign language and writing messages on paper. The neighbours downstairs had the advantage of being able to hear me, however, I couldn’t hear them because the camera connection wasn’t producing a clear signal, there could have been some interference due to thick walls and wiring through the building. My inability to hear my neighbours was more frustrating for them when trying to communicate with me.

10/1/07

Watching You Watching Me 1st trial run: (Installation room B107 Cerise)

I led a small group in to a dimly lit installation room to watch themselves on a TV monitor via a CCTV camera (positioned on top of the TV), the live footage was recorded to document their reactions and responses to the environment. After the group had explored the environment and performed in front of the camera I discussed by project proposal and I received some very helpful feedback.

Group Feedback:

· Participants worked out that if they could see another group on a TV screen, then the other group would be able to see them.

. Participants said they would try to communicate with the other group by waving and making faces and wait for responses.

· One suggestion was to add an element of surprise. I suggested that I could tune the CCTV camera through the monitor while the group were in the room and not have it running as they walked in, therefore the screen would be blank and then suddenly an image would appear on the TV monitor.

26/12/06
A History of Surveillance
A four part series-presented in a thematic fashion-examining a subject that touches all aspects of modern life.

Interesting points from this documentary that could be put in to practice:
. People would hide their private thoughts behind a public face.
. In the 19th century many detective manuals came out so that the public could figure out who the strangers living in their city were. These manuals were used as a guide of who to trust and how to observe and decipher the world.
. There is a thin line between surveillance and voyeurism; they are both acts that take place from a safe distance and give the watcher power and control over their subject.
. One effect of CCTV is to infantile us, it makes us feel better, safe and creates this perception when we know that we are being watched in an unsafe world.
. With many forums such as myspace and websites, people are adding videos of themselves for anyone to view. People choose to be watched 24 hours a day by filming their everyday lives on a web camera for strangers to watch. After all we do not exist unless someone is watching.
. After any transaction we leave a trail behind, because all our information is recorded and can be traced.
· It is impossible to leave the house without being caught on a CCTV camera.

26/12/06
CCTV Home
I hid a video camera on the shelf in my living room to mimic the style of a CCTV camera.
I recorded my partner and I as we carried out our daily routines around the house. At times both of us share intimate moments and leave the room together playing on the notion of the viewer as a voyeur. The footage lasts for one hour but I have decided to speed it up so that it lasts approximately 5 minutes to experiment with the notion of humour and voyeurism which often exist together when innocent observation of others takes place rather than intrusive voyeurism.