OUR MIND AS A HOST
Video Installation
321 sounds of parasites
and surveillance technologies
7.5 x 3 m
Stereo
New species are entering our world and living at our expense. As parasites, hidden surveillance technologies are preying and feeding on us. When they find a weak spot, their biometric algorithms crawl under our skin without consent. They modify behavior, interpret and maybe even shape one’s being, often without us noticing.
I assembled a database of 1866 images and 321 sounds of parasites and surveillance technologies, and compared their appearance and behavior, like surveillance algorithms and parasitologists do to analyze their find. In the montage, a mental phenomenon is used, where the viewer creates- from two images, a third image in te brain. Therefore,these images are expected to interact in the mind of the viewer; even though they are in reality unrelated. Visual similarities lead the edit, and‘‘control’’ the viewer’s eyes over the screen. As unpredictable and elusive parasites andsurveillance technologies are, the images appeara-rhythmic, in different sizes and places, which makes it hard to isolate and identify one byitself.
So the work will, as a parasite in the brain, manipulate perception -and can only exist- in ourmind as a host.
