Information America
Julia Scher
American, born 1954
1995
A staged surveillance control station built from a metal office desk, multiple monitors and cameras, an Amiga computer and a tangle of cables that mimics and critiques systems of observation and information management.
The installation hits you with a theatrical face of five small monitors mounted high like mechanical eyes, their cords cascading down to a dim desk with a 13" screen, lamp and chair beneath bold red-and-blue “INFORMATION AMERICA” lettering, creating a taut mix of bureaucratic authority and the eerie intimacy of being watched.
Made in 1995, the piece links early digital hardware and institutional critique to reveal and question the aesthetics, infrastructure and social power of surveillance technologies as they entered everyday life.
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
Classification
Department
Credit
The Jill and Peter Kraus Media and Performance Acquisition Fund
Accession
218.2020
Palette
Exhibitions
