Camera Obscura creates a window into the daily world by providing a different perspective of an everyday experience. A live feed from outside the Bronx Museum is taken via a small webcam. The image is manipulated and re-projected onto the blank wall, above the staircase, just inside the South Building of the museum. The wall is visible to both people walking by (through a window) and visitors to the museum.
There is an intriguing interval between that which is noticed by passers-by and that which is overlooked. How can artworks best inhabit this space? How can they spark interest in and awaken its viewers without growing didactic? How can this new-found attention carry over into a spectator’s daily practice of alertness, awareness, and interest in the world around her? And how can the initial artwork provide a sense of whimsy and delight to its viewers?
Camera Obscura introduces no new content, but rather re-presents the daily world and attempts to explore this liminal space between in a very direct manner. A viewer on the sidewalk might catch a glimpse of herself walking through a world different from that she recognizes. A visitor to the museum might see something new about the surrounding sidewalk after seeing it projected on a white wall otherwise reserved for curated artwork. Intrigue is sparked when the viewer sees either herself or someone outside the building. This is a unique relationship: many of the people on the sidewalk are not consistent museum visitors and yet they are physically separated only by a window.
The idea is that seeing yourself, or seeing someone with whom you have this kind of relationship, through a distortion and high on museum wall will spark an interest in and an awareness of the visitor’s surroundings that will last beyond the interaction. In addition, nothing is more fun or unexpected than seeing yourself (or a neighbor), especially if you are upside-down, and in a museum.
Camera Obscura employs simple technology: a camera, a computer, and a projector. The camera catches daily activity as it occurs on the sidewalk outside the museum. The live feed runs through a computer program which manipulates the colors and images. Finally, the new image is projected from a projector onto a wall in the museum
The projected image is meant to correspond to that of an actual camera obscura. The image is upside-down and slightly fish-eyed. The colors and saturation are also changed and the effect is that of a home video from the 1980s. Viewing this mirror-like image lifts the otherwise daily habit of walking down the sidewalk into an altogether different experience. The viewer sees herself upside-down–a clear change from what is expected. She also, though, sees herself within a nostalgic framework and also inside a museum. Her simple act of walking down the sidewalk is suddenly worthy of documentation and public viewing.
In addition, there is a formal relationship between the particular shot of the sidewalk and the wall above the staircase. The lines from the sidewalk and the cross walk echo the lines created by the staircase and bordering columns. In this way, the image fits within the architecture of the building, emphasizing the link between sidewalk life and the culture of the museum.
Because Camera Obscura is positioned inside the Bronx Museum, but can be viewed from the surrounding sidewalk, the piece is meant for both the museum-going community and the community outside the museum walls. For both groups of people, Camera Obscura provides an opportunity to re-examine their surroundings. Inside the museum, the project sparks an interest in that which is directly around the building, but which can seem very separate. Viewed from outside the museum, Camera Obscura aims not only to bring attention and pave access to the Bronx Museum but also to provide a fresh look at the otherwise daily experience of walking along the Grand Concourse.
Camera Obscura brings together ideas of attention and a re-awakening of daily life while bridging a gap between museum-goers and the neighbors of the building itself.
A project by Sara Bremen and Elie Zananiri.
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