Join the opening of the Performance Surveillance exhibition by the EMAP/RIXC residency artist Leon Butler. The exhibition opening will take place on July 13, 2023, at 18:00 at the RIXC Gallery, Lenču iela 2, Riga, Latvia. The interactive augmented experience installation is a continuation of the research presented by the artist in the RIXC Festival “Splintered Realities” discussion on surveillance performances and the preservation of media art. The interactive installation Performance Surveillance redefines the tools of surveillance and control, turning them into instruments of self-expression, allowing the viewer to become an observer and, in some way, alter the performance.

Performance Surveillance is an interactive augmented experience made to remind you that the infrastructures and networks made to control can be co-opted and used as a powerful tool to connect us. The work is a durational interactive installation that allows the audience to view different feeds and listen to the generative audio created. OSC data generated by Machine Learning translating presence and movement in the frame into a set of triggers and filters that create a unique ever-changing score, reimagining the tools of oppression for expression.

The restless panorama of CCTV feeds a mixture of video mapping, music and machine learning technology to open the landscapes of these networks and provides an evenness of access across the world. Increasingly powerful surveillance tools have changed the dynamic of influence between the public and the space they inhabit.

Through live feeds from publicly available CCTV cameras projected in real time, the people captured in these feeds become performers controlling what we see in the gallery space. As these performances “actors” move in the video frame, their gestures are interpreted by a machine learning model.

The work is durational, in most cases, the subject is completely unaware or passive to the camera’s presence. The work seeks to reclaim digital infrastructures and the question of how we understand digital networks and communication as a performance tool. The impact of these performances can lead people to reimagine their relationship with surveillance, machine learning and technology, understanding to reimagine and better understanding the world.

The interactive augmented experience installation is a continuation of the research presented by the EMAP/RIXC artist in the RIXC Festival “Splintered Realities” discussion on surveillance performances and the preservation of media art.

Leon Butler is an artist and designer working at the intersection of art and technology. Leon´s work has been recognised by The Type Directors Club, 100 Archive, the Future Makers awards, Digital Media awards, Young Directors Awards and the Irish Design Awards. Recent shows include Emperor 101 (SxSW, Dublin Theatre Festival, Boca Del Lopo Vancouver), Shelter and Place (Cork Midsummer), Desired (Los Angeles).

The exhibition is on view from July 13 to September 2, 2023.
Opening hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12.00 – 18.00.
Address: RIXC Gallery, Lenču iela 2, Rīga
Free entrance.

Supporters:The EMAP Expanded project has been co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Riga City Council, The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.