2004 | Color | DVCam | 7:00

Surveillance 1 is a piece about watching. At its core is a documentary impulse rooted in exacting observation. The camera in this instance becomes a vehicle, so ubiquitous in the brave new world of the early 2000s, for voyeuristically watching and monitoring. Stripped down and unadorned and made up of only two shots, the setting is a New York City that has clearly not “changed forever” in the wake of 9/11. In an age of fear and insecurity about the homeland, the video seeks to reveal what happens, and what is revealed, when the public mask drops.