ART IN TRANSIT
Sushant Passi 2014
ART IN TRANSIT 2014
Art in transit is a live project under BMRC, which focuses on the Peenya metro Station as a pilot project. The purpose of this project is to create an immersive art and design experience that marks the location of the station and its architecture. The larger objective of the project is to develop cultural links between different locations through interactive means of creating new, shared experiences for the city, thus making Peenya a destination station.
CONTENTS Initial Exploration - Sketches - Metaphor
6
Access And Restriction
10
Surveillance
12
Questions
14
CCTV in Fiction
24
Concept
26
Visualizations - Concept Visualizations - Visualizations of Form and Function
28
36 40
Panopticon
18
The Space - Visualizing the Space
Role Of CCTV
20
Proposed Art Piece
Prototype 1.0
42
66
44
Building the Prototype - 2 - Sensor Mount and Connections
Scrap Yard Visit Building the Prototype -1 - The Entwines - The Arms and Camera - The Base - Finishing touches
46
Future Possibilities
70
Bibliograpy
72
Prototype 2.0 - Method 1 - Method 2
58
INITIAL EXPLORATION My first interaction with the metro took place while travelling through the purple metro line and at the Trinity metro station. While at the metro station, I was subjected to a lot of scrutiny and screening. My bags and clothing were checked before I could enter, and the security watched every step I took. While exiting the metro line, I was not allowed to stay around, click pictures or sit anywhere (inside or outside), and had to proceed to the exit, and all this information was relayed to a “control room�. I felt like a foreign entity, inside a living breathing structure. I associate this experience with being a harmless organism inside a much larger and complex living being - with a character and personality of its own where I was given the same scrutiny and screening as the human body would to a foreign entity.
6
Sketches Sketches of spaces inside and outside the Trinity metro station.
7
8
Metaphor I metaphorically expressed this experience with the help of a wire frame sculpture. The Sculpture attempts to envision this large living being as an almost human figure, morphed into the Trinity metro station, where the outstretched arms turn into the metro line that connect the stations. The form is built using GI wires that translate to a deconstructed metro station, of steel pipes, tubes and reinforcement.
9
ACCESS AND RESTRICTION As I switched focus to my primary space of work, The Peenya metro Station, I felt that the same personality and living nature of the Trinity metro could be applied to this station. I therefore began my investigation into an insight based on this metaphorical hypothesis. As presumed I faced the same level of scrutiny from the guards and their security systems. I envisioned my interactions with them as touch points into provoking this gargantuan “Being�, that is Peenya. This provocation was based on me probing around in the station, attempting to access spaces in the station that were not permitted, and being restricted, questioned and redirected by the security guards for the same. These instances of access and restriction based on security and surveillance gave me a good insight into the station and its nature. These movements were represented through a mapping exercise. 10
11
SURVEILLANCE To my observation, surveillance systems play a large role in the scrutiny, access and restriction of the people who interact with the space. After gaining sufficient access to the metro station, and thoroughly looking through the space, I found over 30 CCTV cameras, carefully placed to watch each and every nook and corner of the metro station, watching each and every step a passenger takes, till they are well outside the metro station. They fill up the grey area between access and restriction, and a person in the space can find themselves both reassured and intimidated by it.
12
13
QUESTIONS What intimidates a person in transit? Space? Security? Surveillance? Are security cameras reassuring or intimidating? To whom? Is inducing a human response art? Is Technology facilitating or inhibiting? What spaces can be inviting? And intimidating? What are the characteristics of a Public Space?
14
15
“There is no need for arms, physical violence, material constraints. under its weight will end by interiorising to the point that he is over, and against, himself. A superb formula : power exercised
16
Just a gaze. An inspecting gaze, a gaze which each individual his own overseer, each individual thus exercising this surveillance continuously and for what turns out to be a minimal cost.� - (Foucault, 1980: 155)
17
PANOPTICON The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow a single watchman to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) inmates of an institution without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. Although it is physically impossible for a single watchman to observe all cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that all inmates must act as though they are watched at all times, effectively controlling their own behaviour constantly. Surveillance systems rely on this concept to maximize the effect of the system in a space and the power that comes with it. Therefore CCTV cameras can be considered as watchers that survey a space with the same principle as the Panopticon, where people in the space must behave as if they are being watched at all times by an unknown superior entity. Here in lies the nature of its intimidation. 18
Presidio Modelo prison, inside one of the buildings, 2005 Image Courtesy - Wikipedia.org
19
ROLE OF CCTV “Bentham believed that the principles of the Panopticon could be applied within any sphere requiring some level of regulation, and, consciously or not, we find the principles in modern day forms of surveillance, such as closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Although technologically far superior to surveillance in Bentham’s time, the principle factors are largely unchanged. The same objective remains prevalent today, to deter people from offending through the constant threat of surveillance and the repercussions of being caught on camera.” Therefore CCTV cameras play a variety of roles in the lives of people inhabiting the surveyed space. They can be intimidating, reassuring, overused and gender biased.
20
- An analysis of Jeremy Bentham and
Michel Foucault and their present day relevance By L. Warriar, A. Roberts and J. Lewis
Image Courtesy - The Security Ledger (2014)
21
22
Intimidation
Gender
Overuse
By recording and surveying people in a space, CCTV cameras possess a certain power over them. This power can be intimidating to a person in the space, and can make the person feel conscious and careful about their actions and movement. CCTV cameras can be a reason for added behavioural changes in the space they survey and fake CCTV cameras (cameras without any recording) have been known to exist to specifically induce proper behaviour.
A certain gender bias can be found in the context of CCTV cameras and its benefit. A female person can feel safer and reassured (superficially) under the watchful eyes of CCTV. The Delhi Transport Corporation has recently taken such measures to place CCTV cameras in buses to promote the safety of women. On the contrary, and by further thought, the person behind the camera also stands to question.
An issue directly associated with CCTV is the possible and eventual overuse of these cameras to scrutinize and survey each and everything. While they are specifically used to keep track of terrorist activities, criminal offences and even petty thievery, they can eventually be used to catch people in even the smallest offences like parking in the wrong lane or stealing an extra can of soda from a vending machine.
23
CCTV IN FICTION Based on reality, CCTV cameras are found to play a large role in fictional accounts. Some popular games and films use concepts of surveillance for their fictional premise, providing an interesting insight to what can be possible with these cameras in scenarios of society and privacy. “Person of Interest” is an example of a tv show which gives us the realistic possibility of a mass surveillance computer system - called the Machine programmed to monitor and 24
analyse information gleaned from omnipresent surveillance cameras to predict future terrorist attacks. Convicting someone of a crime he did not commit, but would have puts the scenario in a grey area of morality, justice and privacy. Reality check, The UK based “Smart CCTV” program by Nick Hewitson is pointing in the same direction. Similarly, the game “Watch Dogs” revolves around the ability of a player to access security cameras across the city to identify
and prevent crime. here the player is given the same power a CCTV camera possesses commoditization of personal information, private matter and the power of secrets. As the saying goes, “Knowledge is power”. Such accounts provide us with insights into “what is” and “what can be” within this era of surveillance systems.
Online gaming competition to identify a target using survellaince Image Courtesy - oxcgn.com
25
CONCEPT Reflecting upon the investigation of CCTV cameras and its current state of art, I find the Peenya metro station a good example for a scenario where CCTV cameras document each and every space in the station, and - consciously or subconsciously - play a role in the lives of people transiting the space. Keeping this in mind I want to create an interactive three dimensional art piece that toys with the notion of CCTV, of being watched at all times. I want an interactive element - a tracking event - that induces a human response, where a tree of cameras whimsically follow the motion of people in transit, creating a reaction of fascination, wonder, and for them to question the purpose of the art piece and the role they play in it. I also hope for the people in transit to become aware of the cameras that watch them, in the metro and beyond.
26
27
VISUALIZATIONS Concept Visualizations A series of sketches aimed at visualizing the concept of modern surveillance systems fantastically by giving it an organic living quality and building on inspirations from artists such as Bansky and Ludo.
28
29
30
31
Visualizations of Form and Function A series of sketches aimed at visualizing the form and function of the piece. The forms explored involve themes of scale, power and intimidation and build on organic spider like structures. The functions explored are aimed at different kinds of tracking mechanisms or mechanical wave formations where the CCTV camera serves as a building block.
32
33
34
35
THE SPACE The next step was to choose a site for our art work. Since I was sure I wanted to make my piece large and three dimensional, I was in search for a nice space for display and interaction with my piece. With a couple of sketching and visualizing exercises in the metro station I found a large suspension site that would give me an advantage in artistically expressing my concept of CCTV cameras. This space is an overhanging area below the rear roof of the metro station. The space is completely open, all the way to the ground floor, with good roof armatures for suspension. It also came with a catwalk which overlooked the space across the three story metro, almost like a viewing gallery.
36
37
Visualizing The Space A 1:30 scale model of the space to help visualize the final form of my art piece and its suspension inside it. Materials - Wood Beading, Aluminium Liners and MDF board.
38
Render of the art piece in its space
39
PROPOSED ART PIECE My proposed art piece takes the form of an interactive sculpture installation suspended in the centre of the space, and begins a little above eye level. The form of the art piece builds upon the simple structure of the CCTV camera, its housing and electrical piping found in the metro station. The electrical pipe and housing tube serve as entwines that twirl like muscle fibre onto a central armature, forming an almost organic trunk. Over 40
twenty arms - housing pipes jut out from various points in the trunk and hold the CCTV cameras, creating a large tree like structure with the cameras pointing in various directions. Such a form aims to induce the feeling of scale, power and intimidation. The interactive function of the art piece is to track the movement of people passing through the catwalk, which serves as a narrow walk way and provides a more accurate
result. The walk way will have sensors installed that will relay information to the CCTV cameras (via an Arduino), and the seemingly random cameras will suddenly turn to the person passing through the space, tracking them till they exit the catwalk.
Visualizations of The Proposed Art Piece A series of digital 3D model renders of the art piece in the space (to scale). Possible Materials - Aluminium/PVC pipes of various sizes, CCTV camera shells/hard plastic sheet forming.
41
PROTOTYPE 1.0 Exploring Form
The first prototype of my project was aimed at exploring the form of my proposed art piece and to provide a strong and visual pitch for my project at the “Art In Transit: Work In Progress� exhibition where it was to be displayed. Here my focus was to realistically produce the fibrous entwines of the form and create a sculpture based on the same principle as of my proposal. While I could visualize the principle of my prototype and the materials I will need to pull it off, I decided to work with the flow to create my prototype, without visualizing or designing the final form beforehand. The best way to do this was for me to look for found materials that I could directly work with and inculcate into my prototype, building on it as I moved forward.
42
43
SCRAP YARD VISIT At this point, visiting the BMRC scrap yard nearby became a good starting point, with hopes of finding good usable materials in the form of PVC pipes, Tubes, Tyres and Reinforcing Rebars. Once I had a fair idea on what I could work with, exploring my form would become a better and less costly affair.
44
Scrap Yard Inventory A large inventory of potentially usable materials, from concrete blocks to metal air filters, including some of the materials I needed.
45
BUILDING THE PROTOTYPE After a thorough inspection into the usable materials found at the scrap yard, I began the construction of my first prototype. I found a large, 3 meter long rubber pipe with a 100mm diameter that served as my central armature. I started by cleaning and smoothening the pipe using an angle grinder with a 120 Grit Sanding disc. After a thorough clean-up, I decided to heat bend the pipe using an LPG gas burner to form an arc, aiming for my piece to look like it is sprouting from the ground or a wall. 46
Photo Courtesy - Akshaya George
47
The Entwines The next step was to create the entwines that would wrap around the piece like fibres. Thin electrical pipes (courtesy of the scrap yard) worked well for this. I needed to get an even bend around the central pipe, therefore I started by sand packing the pipes and taping them at the ends. After sand packing I used a heat gun to evenly heat the pipes and carefully bend them around the pipes. 48
Albeit I had a few hiccups due to low quality and degradation of the pipes, where in they would, bend sharply, tear up and split while heating. The job became a delicate one, and needed persistent and careful working, almost meditative. The process took me two days to master, but by the end of the third I was doing pretty well. I used a few different lengths with different degree bends to get an array of these “twines�. This helped in interlocking the
pieces together. Additionally I used plastic electrical conduit pipes that could bend freely and add more muscle to the form. They also helped blend the base with the sculpture.
49
The Arms And Cameras The Arms of my piece needed to be larger than the entwine tubing for the effect I desired. Therefore, with a little bit of shopping, I bought myself two PVC pipes, 10 feet long and with a 60 mm diameter. I cut these up in different sizes to form different arm lengths. Using the same process as before, I sand packed them and used a heat gun to bend them, only this time, I added a twist (literally) during the bend to create an added aesthetic. This also helped in covering up any tears or depressions during the bending process. I drilled holes into the central rubber pipe wherein the arms fit in snugly. I made the cameras for the sculpture, under short time, using sunboard for the case and X-Ray sheets for the lens. I attached them to the arms using PVC elbow joints and tight fitting them. I finished up by spray painting them. The cameras were painted military grey and the elbow joints silver grey. 50
The Arm And Camera Fittings
51
The Base After much contemplation, I decided that the sculpture would be more practical sprouting from the ground, and therefore, needed a base. The Base had to be portable, yet heavy enough to hold up the entire sculpture, ruling out a lot of options. The solution - a tyre equipped with a heavy iron rim - that was enough to hold the sculpture up. A rough armature was welded onto the rim to help support the central pipe. To finish up I painted the entire thing dark grey. 52
53
Finishing Touches To finish things off I spray painted all the components separately, before assembling them. The colours I used were Dark Grey, Mild Grey and Pebble Grey; inspired from the colours of the CCTV camera and its housing in the metro station. I used all three of them together, evenly across the armatures length. I sprayed the arms and entwines in single colours. 54
55
The first prototype at the exhibition
56
My panel and macket at the exhibition
57
PROTOTYPE 2.0 Exploring Function
The second prototype of my project is aimed at exploring, analysing and proving the interactive tracking function of my proposed art piece. The first step was to research the current state of the art and figure out methods and materials I can use to create the desired interaction. Through my research I found two distinct ways to attempt my interactive function. The first method was to use a real time tracker that maps a certain part of the body (like the face) and tracks the motion of the person dynamically. The second method was to use multiple sensors, like triggers that mark the position of the person and effectively track the movement of that person. 58
59
Method 1 - Dynamic Tracking This method of tracking, as mentioned earlier, required me to map a body part in real time and positioning my camera to that body part. This involved three important components - The camera movement, The Arduino, and a powerful OpenCV Processing code. The OpenCV Processing code uses a class called Cascade, that detects objects in a video stream The camera movement was made possible using a Pan/Tilt Servo 60
bracket with a web cam mounted on it, where one servo moved the camera in the X - axis, and the other in the Y - axis. In theory the Processing code functioned as the brain of the setup, where it computed the video information from the web cam and relayed it back to the Arduino, which then told the Servos what to do, giving it coordinates as to where the camera must point next. All this takes place in real time. While being theoretically sound
and having functioned previously, this method failed me - no matter what I tried - due to errors in the current version of OpenCV for Processing, and the previous version being outdated recently. Therefore I was left with the second method.
Schematic Diagram for Pan/Tilt Servo Image Courtesy - SparkFun Electronics
61
Method 2 - Sensor Tracking As mentioned earlier, this method involves tracking a moving object in the space using multiple sensors that effectively mark the position of the object at the point where the object triggers the sensor. This method uses a less dynamic approach without any video stream or heavy computing like the previous one, making it a simple solution. Three important components here are - The Arduino, PIR 62
(Passive Infrared) Sensors and Servos. The Arduino here serves as the brain of the system. The PIR sensors are essentially motion sensors that have a digital “High” and “Low” output. When an object moves in front of it, the infrared sensor sends a digital high value to the Arduino, telling it that a motion has been sensed from that sensor, following which it drops back to a low value. The arduino then tells the servo to point to the position of that sensor (which is preconfigured).
When placed sequentially, the sensors stepwise cover the area of the space. Therefore, when triggered by, say, a person walking from left to right, the servos move from left to right sequentially, like an animation, as each sensor tells the servo its position through the Arduino. With some preliminary tests this method proved to work perfectly well using four sensors.
63
PIR 1
64
PIR 2
PIR 3
PIR 4
Schematic Diagram For The Motion Sensing Tracker
65
BUILDING THE PROTOTYPE To prove my concept, I needed to have at least 2 servos - with makeshift cameras attached that track movement across 4 PIRs. For this I needed to build two important parts: A proper mount for both my servos and a panoramic mount for my PIR sensors that would maximize the field of view for the sensors. To build my servo mounts, I decided to have a central piece with arms jutting out, that would hold up the servos. I revisited the idea of using PVC pipes. This 66
time I used a 2 feet long and 110 diameter pipe as the central piece. I then cut up a 5 feet long pipe with a 60 mm diameter into 4 parts. Then, using an elbow joint, I attached two parts of the pipe at right angles. After drilling two holes on either side of the central pipe, I got these “Arms� to fit into them snugly. To clean things up I added a cap onto the top of the central PVC. By cutting a small servo sized gap into the PVC on the open end of the arm, i was able to
tight fit the servos, mounting them securely. The Pipes work well to mask all the electronic wires connecting the Servos to the Arduino, keeping the design seamless.
67
Sensor Mount And Connections For the sensors to function as desired, I had to spread them across a small distance, and I also needed to give them a panoramic arc like shape so as to maximize the field of view, which would help the PIRs to detect a larger surface area of the space for any movement. To do so I used a 1 meter long and a 22mm thick thermocole sheet. I cut 4 PIR sized holes into them at equal intervals. I then fit the 4 sensors into the holes snugly. After doing so I connected all the wires (male to female connectors) to the PIRs and classified them according 68
to the schematic. I also used three sunboard separators to help narrow down the PIRs individual field of Vision. Since the thermocole sheet was flexible, I used a long stretch of tape and tensely strung the two ends of the sheet, forming a bow. this gave me the necessary arc to maximize the field of view. After this I made all the connections onto the bread board and Arduino, linking the PIRs, Servos and Arduino.
69
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES With successful explorations in both form and function, my proposed art piece can be considered a realistic possibility. While both prototypes of my project were aimed at overcoming the obstacles to a specific final art piece, they helped me hone my skills and develop new ones in processes such as interaction design and heat bending. They also helped me further understand the depth of my concept and other possibilities of it as an art project. This was my first experience working on an art piece of a scale larger than the doodles in my book. I found working on it a very personal, subjective and liberating experience, not bound by user functionality. The concept development was full of ideas, metaphors and narratives. They taught me to think broadly whilst keeping my ideas focused.
70
71
BIBLIOGRAPHY Wikipedia - Panopticon | Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed-circuit_television Presidio Modelo Prision http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Presidio-modelo2.JPG An analysis of Jeremy Bentham and Michel Foucault and their present day relevance http://studymore.org.uk/ybenfou.htm The Security Ledger - Video Mob Sourcing Spots Public Gatherings https://securityledger.com/2014/02/ Surveillance & Society - ‘Cam Era’ - The Contemporary Urban Panopticon - By Hille Koskela http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/articles1(3)/camera.pdf 72
CCTV Camera Animals By Eleonora Trevisanutto http://www.thefoxisblack.com/2014/04/30/ Public Domain: You Are My Property, My Data, My Art, My Love. http://www.stanza.co.uk/public_domain_outside/ Watch Dogs - CCTV http://fortune.com/2014/05/27/watch-dogs-turns-the-cameras-on-nsa-fears/ SparkFun Electronics - Face Tracking with a Pan/Tilt Servo Bracket https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/304 Instructables - PIR Motion Sensing http://www.instructables.com/id/Motion-Tracker-with-PIR-Arduino-and-a-Servo/
73
Sushant Passi Art In Transit Srishti School of Art, Design And Technology https://www.facebook.com/artintransitproject