Dear David, Part 2: The Blindspot —
OONA disappears from every CCTV camera in the London Underground for 69 seconds.
Dear David by OONA is a virtual ‘love letter.’ This video work is built entirely from CCTV footage of the artist in the London Underground, framing the body as an object tracked by state surveillance systems. It is addressed to David, a Transport for London employee of 29 years, who processes public requests for CCTV access – a right that every person has within a 14-day period of their capture.
Each time OONA performed on the Underground, she requested the CCTV footage, corresponding via email with David. This correspondence allowed the artist to build a relationship with someone else who also operates in a form of public anonymity, not completely dissimilar to that of her own artistic anonymity.
To retrieve her footage, OONA documented what she was wearing and her exact movements, platforms, and carriages with precision. After receiving OONA’s personal information and corresponding paperwork, David then used various recognition software to object track OONA throughout the stations, blurring the identities of others. In this “love letter”, OONA reaches through the surveillance technology to find and adore the human on the other side.
— cf. https://blog.objkt.com/post/the-machine-isnt-going-to-reach-out-and-touch-me