Ode to The Guard

George Orwell’s Big Brother was outdated a long time ago. In the 21st century questions like “Who supervises who” and “What are the boundaries of public and private areas” aren’t easy to answer anymore. In this era of mobile communication technologies and global monitoring systems both public and also private spaces become controlled and monitored. And the consciousness of this leads humans to change their behaviour.

German artist Stephan US lets the visitors play with these questions in his installation Ode to the Guard. During his stay in Vaasa in September 2008 he investigated numerous monitoring and control systems in the public areas of the city, and they will be one part of a three-part multimedia work. The others are a network of monitors and more than 150 surveillance cameras, installed at the Platform gallery. The game nears it’s boundaries: Who is really the guard and who observes who?

Stephan US is based in Münster, Germany, and has worked since 1994 mainly with performance and installations. During November he is the artist in residence in Nykarleby.
More information: www.archiv-des-nichts.de

Note also: Stephan US performance nonobody at Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa
Friday 31.10.08 at 20.00 (MuseumNight)