Benjamin Grosser: Tracing You
Title:
- Tracing You
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Creation Year:
- 2015
Medium:
- Online display of six tiles presenting photographic images accompanied by geographical coordinates
Artist Statement:
Tracing You employs the IP address as a trail of breadcrumbs in order to trace the internet user who consults the home page of the work. From this identification number, the site speculates on the user’s geographical position and displays a series of six tiles presenting photographic images accompanied by geographical coordinates. Leveraging data collection processes and monitoring infrastructures, Tracing You links the information obtained to available images of places in the vicinity of that position. The purpose of these images is to reveal the location and immediate environment of the individuals who visit the website.
As stated by the artist, the result is sometimes surprisingly precise, and others very approximate. This randomness woven into the work conveys its dual aim: making the surveillance mechanisms to which we are subject visible, while at the same time alluding to the inconsistent documentation of physical spaces and the erratic effectiveness of tracing devices.
