“AZ: Move and Get Shot” by Joana Moll

Title:

AZ: Move and Get Shot

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Creation Year:

2011-2014

Medium:

Net-based installation

Duration:

33:07

Artist Statement:

AZ: Move and Get Shot is a net based piece which shows the landscape of the U.S. / Mexico border in the state of Arizona, through the eyes of six surveillance cameras.

These cameras are part of an online platform created by a group of landowners with properties in the U.S. border. The platform shows the images of six surveillance cameras located in the border territory. The main purpose of this community is to provide the public with raw images of immigrants crossing the border illegally through their lands. Each camera incorporates a motion sensor which triggers the capturing of images when detecting the slightest vibration of the landscape. Then, these pictures are sent to a server and displayed directly on the web page.

While the main goal of the landowners is to capture and disseminate photographs of immigrants entering the United States illegally, the camera is programmed to detect and record any kind of movement. By delegating the surveillance to a machine, the original human intention is lost, and the original purpose takes shape as a collection of images which reveal not only immigrants but all kinds of human, animal and natural activity. Therefore, the monitoring action becomes something uncontrollable and potentially meaningless.

The piece is composed of six independent films automatically made from the images captured by each camera. Every 24 hours, a Bot, which is running since 2011, detects whether there are, or not, new pictures. Then, these new images are saved to a local server and added algorithmically right after the last frame of the corresponding video. Thus, the films expand and reveal, day by day, the pace and the nature of the movement of the Arizona borderland.