Stars Of CCTV. By Stanza 2008

These are the Stars of CCTV, a series CCTV artworks.These images represent a portrait of England since the start of the CCTV imaging revolution. These CCTV artworks are re-mediated as history paintings and represent a social portrait of England.

26
stanza CCTV artwork
27
stanza CCTV artwork
28
stanza CCTV artwork
29
30
31
stanza CCTV artwork
32
33
stanza CCTV artwork
34
35
36
stanza CCTV artwork

 

 

 

Exhibition.

 

Each picture has a narrative, a history of time and place. The images depict the last whereabouts of a lawyer, the July bombers, happy slappers beating someone up, people drunk in the street, thefts at gunpoint, sex in car, running someone over, stealing from a shop and trying the stuff on first. Other images include police abuse, child abduction, senseless fighting and terrorists using public transport.

These are our children our friends and the images captured represent everytday social occurances recorded by CCTV, seen by "watchers". Each image seems well composed of incidents of aranged figures. But as a whole the group of images make up a portrait of our culture.....made in england.

 

Each images is made large 160 by 120cm and printed on top quality canvas as a unique artwork. Each image is signed by Stanza.

 

 

Stanza's 'Stars of CCTV', hung on the wall were representations of the 'Big Brother' generation, re-mediated as history paintings representing a social portrait of England. Tthese works showed ghostly, chilling blurred images "each picture has a narrative, a history of time and place". Anonymous faces stare back at the CCTV cameras during their drunk and disorderly activities, like acts of defiance, whilst being snapped, trapped within the visual flicker of the ever spying eyes. As soon as they are captured for us to observe, they become shadowy reflections of our own selves. Feral representations of strange creatures in an urban zoo. The darkness of these collected images allow us to observe our own subterranean fears, resting closely at the edge of what we as a supposedly decent society, accepts as normality. Yet there is a contradiction at play informing us that this is all too normal, part of the everyday. We are those people within these selected frames, as we scrutinize them, we judge ourselves. " A selection of these images were presented at the Radiator Festival Radiator Festival "Exploits in the Wireless City" at the Surface Galley Nottingham In Jan 2009. Surface Gallery: Preview: 14 Jan 6-8pm: 15-17 Jan 2-7pm: 18-24 Jan 2-6pm.

 

 

Titles. From "The Stars Of CCTV" Series.

Cultural Diversity---I’m So Vain---Grand Theft Auto---I Wont Be Home For Tea Dear---Just Havin A Laff---Sex In The City---Theatre Of Dreams---There For TheGrace Of God Go I---They Call It Road Rage---Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps---Were All Going On A Summer Holiday---We Are The Masters Of Your Universe---What Are You Looking At---What Do You Want To Do When You Grow Up---Do You Feel Lucky---You Tube Generation---Freedom Under Law---Five A Side---Kick Em When There Down---Late for Work---Leave Our Kids Alone---Lost Souls---Teenage Kicks Are Hard To Find---The Rise Of The Silver Surfer---The Stars Of CCTV---We Don’t Want No Education---You Belong To Me---Children Of The Revolution--You’ll Never Walk Alone---Ere We Go

 

Contexts

These artworks represent a portrait of England since the start of the CCTV imaging revolution which really began after 1993 with the James Bulger image from Bootle, Liverpool. This image represented the start of the CCTV revolution. Since 1993 we have seen CCTV cameras placed all over the United Kingdom for our “safety”, without any real debate about the ethic and accountability of surveillance in public domain space. The 1993 murder of two year old James Bulger in Bootle led to an outpouring of public grief and shock. In February 1993 two year old James Bulger was abducted and murdered by two ten year old boys Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. Thompson and Venables led James Bulger away from the shopping centre while his mother was in a nearby butchers shop. The picture, captured on CCTV, of James Bulger being led away by hand was to become one of the most infamous images of the murder case and led to a huge uptake of council money being poured in CCTV technology.

Keywords cctv, prints, installation, artworks, surveillance, privacy, society

 

Touring. These works and they are available for touring.

 

About Stanza

Stanza is a London based British artist who specializes in interactive art, networked spaces, installations and performances. His award winning online projects have been invited for exhibition in digital festivals around the world. Work has been shown at The Venice Biennale, Tate Britain, The Victoria and Albert Museum. All his art can be found at www.stanza.co.uk

His works explore artistic and technical opportunities to enable new aesthetic perspectives, experiences and perceptions within context of architecture, data spaces and online environments. Stanza travels extensively to present his interactive art, lecturing and giving audio visual performances.

 

Awards

AHRC Creative fellowship 2006 - 2009
NESTA Dreamtime Award. 2004
Clark Digital Bursary. 2003
Future Physical Grant for Genomixer. 2002
D.T.I. Innovation Award. 1997

 

© Copyright Stanza 2008