Observation Devices is a project about Chicago police surveillance and public space made between 2016 and 2019. Observation Devices invokes the name of the Chicago Police Department’s surveillance cameras: called “Police Observation Devices”. These cameras are the infrastructure of Operation Virtual Shield, one of the largest public and private surveillance projects in the world. When plans for this surveillance network were unveiled, Mayor Richard Daley declared it was the city’s goal to have “a camera on every corner.”
This panoptic ambition assures that a total picture of Chicago is a pathway to true public safety. A total picture of Chicago and its promise of safety are possibilities I refuse.
Observation Devices is an expansion and critique of Operation Virtual Shield. Its intention is to de-center the picture(s) of the public generated by and for the Chicago Police Department. Observation Devices includes a variety of approaches: drawings made from direct observation, rubbings, wood sculptures, 3D scans, 3D prints, 35mm slide photographs, community-engaged drawing events, text, and undocumented walks.
Chicago’s massive investment in surveillance infrastructure demonstrates the Chicago Police Department's belief that visual observation of public space has power. My work is an attempt to reclaim some of this power. I hope to demonstrate ways that observation can foster intimacy, connection, curiosity and a more complex understanding of the public and public space
Drawings of Police Observation Devices (PODs) made from direct observation and a flyer that was posted throughout Humboldt Park inviting members of the public to a POD drawing event.
Nomadic observation and drawing studio made from a milk crate. A camera obscura is built into the milk crate. A plywood piece fits into milk crate, and holds drawing supplies for traveling. When removed the plywood piece locks onto edges of milk crate to act as a stool or platform. Straps are attached for easy carrying and are made from recycled bicycle inner tubes.
Graphite rubbing and process documentation of the intersection of Potomac Ave and Washtenaw Ave. Rubbing was made directly below a Police Observation Device.
A custom made slide viewer. Slide viewer is made of plywood, Plexiglas and LED lights. Slides can be viewed with or without a loupe. Photographs depict a variety of public spaces and encounters in Humboldt Park.
Concrete sculpture of the Police Observation Device at the intersection of Potomac Ave and Washtenaw Ave.
Miniature representations of intersections with Police Observation Devices carved out of cherry wood. Intersections pictured: Hirsch and Campbell, Augusta and California, Hirsch and Rockwell