Kvaka 22 Belgrade Residence

THANKS TO THE CULTURE MOVES EUROPE PROGRAM

Technical viability is not a sufficient argument to legitimize a technological implementation.

During a visit that Adrian Serna and Lucas Alvarado Oscilab made to Serbia as part of the “Culture Moves Europe” 2023 cultural mobility program in Europe, we met the talented and passionate dancer Olga Uzikaeva. We were walking through the streets of Belgrade when we came across an arrangement of cameras. When we asked our hostess Laura Ferrero, she told us that it might be one of Belgrade’s facial recognition systems. This statement made us very curious, because we did not know that such a system had been implemented in Belgrade and even more so, because it seemed that the locals were not very aware of it either. This is where the search began, resulting in a performative installation that we presented on October 6, 2023, at the Kvaka 22 gallery in Belgrade.

 

After further investigation, we found some news and a documentary produced in 2020 by the Share Foundation on the subject. Filip Milošević, Research and Development Specialist at the Share Foundation, was kind enough to grant us an interview. During our meeting, he told us about the current situation of video surveillance in Belgrade, the lack of government transparency on this issue, and the relevance of initiatives that seek to raise public awareness about what could be happening.

 

The Hiljadu Kamera community, in which Filip Milošević also participates, created a map where volunteers have located the different cameras with facial recognition capabilities deployed in Belgrade. Inspired by this map, we set out to explore the spaces monitored by these cameras, with the interest of understanding the surveillance areas and the possible actions or trajectories that could be the focus of interest of this system.

Since at this stage the intention was to create a performative installation, or what we have been calling since my work with Ymoov, an “install-action”, it was crucial for us to visit the spaces. This represented the way to link our concept with the Body; space would act as the connecting link between installation and performance.

 

In each location we visited, we made a three-dimensional capture of the cameras and the environment they were monitoring. This was done in order to later compare each space, identify patterns, and illustrate what the cameras capture for the creation of our installation.

Our installation consisted of video projection on two walls and the floor in a corner, creating an isometric space inhabited by the performer Olga Uzikaeva. The system interacted with Olga, allowing her to gradually take control of the music and the projected content. Within the scene, we installed an infrared camera, disguised as a surveillance camera as part of the scenography.

Throughout the performance, Olga travels through different virtual video-surveillance spaces in Belgrade. During her journey, she discovers that the spaces she visits are becoming digitized, and later she finds herself digitized, along with the faces of some people. At this point, the music and the location of the visualization depend solely on Olga’s movements.

The experience culminates with the gradual appearance of a wall of faces captured throughout the performance. To the surprise of the audience, faces of themselves admiring the piece are shown, which were automatically captured by our camera on stage.

The piece, beyond being a mere illustration of what may be happening in the city of Belgrade, serves as a pretext to expose the vulnerability to which we are all exposed with this type of technology. If being captured without realizing it, despite the fact that all the necessary elements for it were exposed from the beginning, turns out to be a surprise, a fear, or an indignation, then perhaps it is an issue worth addressing.

Carlos Adrián Serna

Original Idea /
Electronic Artist

Lucas Alvarado

Musicalization /
composer

Olga Uzikaeva

Dancer /
Performer

Laura Ferrero

General Production