4 December 2021 – 20 March 2022
Michael Candy
Persistence of vision 2021
brushless servos, Nvidia Jetson nano, lens vector LCD, LED, Arduino Nano, low lux camera, custom stainless steel enclosure, network components
Commissioned by RISING in association with City of Melbourne
Courtesy the artist
Offsite
Brien Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
Originally presented as part of RISING in 2021, Michael Candy’s Persistence of Vision 2021 takes the form of a discrete installation along Chinatown’s Brien Lane. Employing the use of an AI-enabled interactive network of spotlights disguised as CCTV cameras, Persistence of Vision detects and tracks the motion of people, throwing light onto passers-by as they traverse the length of the lane.
This playful choreography of technology, movement and light of course has complex undertones, drawing the public’s awareness to the now commonplace use of video surveillance and emerging AI technologies across cities globally. Ostensibly designed and fitted for the safety and security of citizens, the use of such technologies has also generated significant public debates around individuals’ rights to privacy, even while in public space.
Candy’s installation plays with the tension inherent in the use of such technologies, replacing the camera’s ability to record with the provision of a personal spotlight, thus creating a sense of security through the infrastructure of an ominous surveillance system. As the artist has said of the project: ‘This work was designed to critique civil infrastructure – but it inadvertently became it.’ Illumination from the spotlights not only draws the audiences’ awareness to their surroundings, but also to the visibility of their own bodies in public space, encouraging a sense of performativity that may be either opportune or unwelcome.
Persistence of Vision continues Candy’s interest in the liminal realm between the technological and physical worlds. Working with a variety of methodologies and media including robotics, intervention, video and hardware hacking, Candy’s projects and installations often emerge as social experiments or ecological interventions in public space.
Artist thanks:
RISING, City of Melbourne, Additive Lighting, Security Design Co., Jennifer Carey, Mat Jonson, Richard Candy, Dad.
Documentation from this project will also be presented at ACCA, in the Project Space: The Hoarding over the duration of the exhibition.
Access:
This light-based work is best viewed in the evening from 6–12am. There are uneven paved surfaces on Brien Lane. The nearest public toilets are located 350m away at 59 Lonsdale St, Melbourne. Tram access is in close proximity on Bourke St. Please contact ACCA if you have any further queries about access and this event 03 9697 9999 or info@acca.melbourne