Rebecca Lieberman
What in the world do you want to see? is an interactive video sculpture that reimagines the ViewMaster, an old stereoscopic imaging toy, as a portal into other people’s worlds.
Description
What in the world do you want to see? is an interactive video sculpture that reimagines the ViewMaster, an old stereoscopic imaging toy, as a portal into other people’s worlds. Using embedded electronics and the original switch mechanism, a small LCD screen housed inside a vintage ViewMaster plays stereoscopic video of insecure webcam and security camera video feeds taken from livestreams around the globe. Rather than being transported to exotic locations or scenic spaces, what if you were able to travel to an office in Moscow or a parking lot in Nebraska? To watch people sitting poolside, folding their laundry, or eating lunch in the food court of a mall?
This project reinterprets an old imaging object to ask questions about “seeing the world” in a new way, both by drawing on material from ubiquitous surveillance, and by emulating the mechanics of rudimentary VR technology. It explores the tension between private and public, between the immersive interior of the device and the space of internet, which in this instance makes public the small glimpses into banal moments of people’s lives through surveillance technologies.
Materials: Vintage ViewMaster, LCD screen, Arduino Uno, Acrylic, Copper tape, Wire, Machine Screws
Languages: Arduino, Max / MSP
Classes
Readymades