>> Manu Luksch, Faceless, 2004

from: http://www.ambienttv.net/content/?q=facelessthemovie


"the movie

- a CCTV sci-fi fairy-tale by MANU LUKSCH

SYNOPSIS In a society under the reformed 'Real-Time' Calendar, without history nor future, everybody is faceless. A woman panics when she wakes up one day with a face. With the help of the Spectral Children she slowly finds out more about the lost power and history of the human face and begins the search for its future.

FACELESS was produced under the rules of the 'Manifesto for CCTV Filmmakers'. The manifesto states, amongst other things, that additional cameras are not permitted at filming locations, as the omnipresent existing video surveillance (CCTV) is already in operation.

MAKING-OF: The UK Data Protection Act and EU directives give individuals the right to access personal data held in computer filing systems. This includes images captured by CCTV recording systems. For a nominal fee (£10), an individual can obtain a copy of this data: financial or medical records, or video recordings. Other legislation states that the privacy of third parties must be protected. In CCTV recordings, this is done by erasing the faces of other people in the images - hence the 'faceless' world.

voice: TILDA SWINTON
choreography: THE BALLET BOYZ
soundtrack: MUKUL piano music: RUPERT HUBER
produced by AMOUR FOU and AMBIENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS contact: info[at]ambientTV.NET
international distribution / sales: SIXPACK FILM , contact: Gerald Weber gerald[at]sixpackfilm.com

"RealTime orients the life of every citizen. Eating, resting, going to work, getting married – every act is tied to RealTime. And every act leaves a trace of data – a footprint in the snow of noise..." (excerpt of FACELESS) "

trailer + excerpt of the movie:

>> Manifesto for CCTV filmmakers

from: http://www.ambienttv.net/content/?q=dpamanifesto

"MANIFESTO FOR CCTV FILMMAKERS declares a set of rules, establishes effective procedures, and identifies further issues for filmmakers using pre-existing CCTV (surveillance) systems as a medium in the UK. The manifesto is constructed with reference to the Data Protection Act 1998 and related privacy legislation that gives the subjects of data records (including CCTV footage) access to copies of the data. The filmmaker's standard equipment is thus redundant; indeed, its use is prohibited. The manifesto can easily be adapted for different jurisdictions."

MANIFESTO FOR CCTV FILMMAKERS (UK VERSION, 2004)

GENERAL

The filmmaker is not permitted to introduce any cameras or lighting into the location.

SCRIPT

A protagonist ("data subject") is required to feature in all sequences.
Data Protection Act 1998; 1998 Chapter 29; Part II Section 7(1). **
[A]n individual is entitled –
(a) to be informed by any data controller whether personal data of which that individual is the data subject are being processed by or on behalf of that data controller,
(b) if that is the case, to be given by the data controller a description of –
(i) the personal data of which that individual is the data subject,
(ii) the purposes for which they are being or are to be processed, and
(iii) the recipients or classes of recipients to whom they are or may be disclosed,
(c) to have communicated to him in an intelligible form –
(i) the information constituting any personal data of which that individual is the data subject, and
(ii) any information available to the data controller as to the source of those data, and
(d) where the processing by automatic means of personal data of which that individual is the data subject for the purpose of evaluating matters relating to him such as, for example, his performance at work, his creditworthiness, his reliability or his conduct, has constituted or is likely to constitute the sole basis for any decision significantly affecting him, to be informed by the data controller of the logic involved in that decision-taking.

The documented activity of the protagonist must qualify as personal or sensitive data. The filmmaker is to establish this by locating a surveillance camera and circumscribing the field of action for the actors relative to it, so that incidents of biographical relevance (i.e. that reveal personal data) occur in the frame.
ICO CCTV systems and the Data Protection Act JB v.5 01/02/04 (***)
2. The court decided that for information to relate to an individual (and be covered by the DPA) it had to affect their privacy. To help judge this, the Court decided that two matters were important: that a person had to be the focus of information, the information tells you something significant about them.

The provisions of the 1998 Act are based on the requirements of a European Directive, which at, Article 2, defines, personal data as follows:
“Personal data” shall mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.
The definition of personal data is not therefore limited to circumstances where a data controller can attribute a name to a particular image. If images of distinguishable individuals’ features are processed and an individual can be identified from these images, they will amount to personal data.

All people other than the protagonist ("third parties") will be rendered unidentifiable on the data obtained from the CCTV operators. Typically, operators blur or mask out faces of third parties. The filmmaker is to consider the visual impact of this manipulation, and to establish a rule for the handling of footage delivered with ineffectual masking or blurring – for example, reporting the offence.
Right to Privacy in Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (****):
RIGHT TO RESPECT FOR PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE
1. Everyone has the right to respect for private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others.

DPA1998
4. On the other hand, the disclosure of third party information in compliance with a subject access request may also expose the data controller to complaint or action by the third party, for example [...] for breach of confidence.
6. The data controller should consider to what extent it is possible to communicate the information sought without disclosing any third party information [...] This might be achieved by editing the information to remove names or other identifying details.

LOCATION

The filmmaker is to choose sites that are covered by multiple surveillance cameras, preferably operated by a large business, private security firm or public authority – or, if operated by a small retailer, cameras of the kind that can be panned and zoomed remotely. Sites may be mobile – for example, a public bus.
ICO CCTV systems and the Data Protection Act JB v.5 01/02/04
If you have just a basic CCTV system your use may no longer be covered by the DPA. [...] Small retailers would not be covered who
– only have a couple of cameras,
– can't move them remotely,
– just record on video tape whatever the camera picks up,
– only give the recorded images to the police to investigate an incident in their shop.

For every camera used, the operator's name and contact details are to be noted.
Code of practice issued by the Data Protection Commissioner, under Section 51(3)(b) of the Data Protection Act 1998, 07/2000 (*****)
7. Signs should be placed so that the public are aware that they are entering a zone which is covered by surveillance equipment.
The signs should contain the following information:
Identity of the person or organisation responsible for the scheme.
The purposes of the scheme.
Details of whom to contact regarding the scheme.
(First Data Protection Principle).

FOOTAGE REQUESTS

After completing each shoot, the filmmaker is to address a written request ("subject access request letter") to the CCTV operator ("data controller") immediately to ensure that the data recovery process can be initiated while the recordings are still archived. (Mandatory retention periods vary.)
Code of practice issued by the Data Protection Commissioner, under Section 51(3)(b) of the Data Protection Act 1998, 07/2000
1. Once the retention period has expired, the images should be removed or erased (Fifth Data Protection Principle).

The subject access request letter is to state the place and time of the recording and include a picture of the protagonist, wearing the same clothes if possible, and a cheque for £10 (the maximum fee chargeable). Letters should be sent by a secure system which provides evidence of delivery. (Some data controllers may require the notarisation of the letter to legally establish identity.)
Data Protection Act 1998; 1998 Chapter 29, Part II Section 7(2)
A data controller is not obliged to supply any information under subsection (1) unless he has received –
(a) a request in writing, and
(b) except in prescribed cases, such fee (not exceeding the prescribed maximum) as he may require.

The filmmaker is to allow a maximum 40 days after sending the data request for an initial response.
Code of practice issued by the Data Protection Commissioner, under Section 51(3)(b) of the Data Protection Act 1998, 07/2000
A data controller must comply with a subject access request promptly, and in any event within forty days of receipt of the request or, if later, within forty days of receipt of:
the information required (i.e. to satisfy himself as to the identity of the person making the request and to locate the information which that person seeks); and the fee.

The filmmaker is to establish a set of rules for handling the various formats in which the data may be sent (video tape, DVD-video, digital files encoded with proprietary codecs, hard copies of frames).

SOUND

CCTV systems are not permitted record sound. The filmmaker is to establish a set of rules for the soundtrack (if any) of the movie – for example, prohibiting field recordings.

DISTRIBUTION

Footage received is subject to complex copyright issues. The filmmaker is to take legal advice and establish a strategy.

FOOTNOTES

(*) In addition to the boom in surveillance, the proliferation of miniature mobile cameras (many built into phones and other handheld devices) has led to the phenomenon of "sous-veillance" activities carried out by the population at large. News services now actively solicit amateur recordings from camcorders and even mobile phones, often combining them with CCTV footage where they have access to it, when reporting from scenes of crimes, accidents or natural disasters. The manifesto can be extended to provide a framework for films that work with acts of sous-veillance.

(**) Data Protection Act 1998 Chapter 29
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/19980029.htm

(***) CCTV systems and the Data Protection Act JB v.5
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

(****) Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (CCTV and the Human Rights Act)
http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/cctv13.htm

(*****) CCTV Guidance and the Data Protection Act - Good Practice Note
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=5740

>> "The Atlas of Cyberspace", Martin Dodge & Rob Kitchin, 2001

http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/m.dodge/atlas/Atlas_with_cover_high.pdf

As published today (Oct. 22nd 2008) on the nettime mailinglist, the Atlas of Cyberspace, originally published in 2001 is now fully available for download & licensed under creative commons.

>> "the golem", 1920

>> next 5 minutes reader

http://www.debalie.nl/mmbase/attachments/193923/n5m4_reader.pdf

from: http://www.next5minutes.org/about.jsp

"What is Next 5 Minutes?

Next 5 Minutes is a festival that brings together media, art and politics.

Next 5 Minutes revolves around the notion of tactical media, the fusion of art, politics and media. The festival is organised irregularly, when the urgency is felt to bring a new edition of the festival together.

How did this particular edition of the festival come about?

The fourth edition of the Next 5 Minutes festival is the result of a collaborative effort of a variety of organisations, initiatives and individuals dispersed world-wide. The program and content of the festival is prepared through a series of Tactical Media Labs (TMLs) organised locally in different cities around the globe. This series of Tactical Media Labs started on September 11, 2002 in Amsterdam and they continue internationally right up to the festival in September. TMLs have been organised in: Amsterdam, Sydney, Cluj, Barcelona, Delhi, New York, Singapore, Birmingham, Nova Scotia, Berlin, Chicago, Portsmouth, Sao Paulo, Moscow, Dubrovnik, and Zanzibar. The results of the various TMLs are published in a web journal, at: http://www.n5m4.org

What are the main themes of N5M4?

The program of Next 5 Minutes 4 is structured along four core thematic threads, bringing together a host of projects and debates. These four thematic threads are: "The Reappearing of the Public" deals with the elusiveness of the public that tactical media necessarily needs to interface with, and considers new strategies for engaging with or redefining 'the public'. "Deep Local (Growing Roots for the Global Village)", which explores the ambiguities of connecting essentially translocal media cultures with local contexts. "The Tactics of Appropriation" questions who is appropriating whom? Corporate, state, or terrorist actors all seem to have become effective media tacticians, is the battle for the screen therefore lost? "The Tactical and the Technical" finally questions the deeply political nature of (media-)technology, and the role that the development of new media tools plays in defining, enabling and constraining its tactical use.

Formats

The festival explores a variety of forms and formats, from low-tech to high-tech, from seminars and debates to performances and urban interventions, screenings, installations as well as sound projects and live media, a pitching session, a tool builders fair and open unmoderated spaces. Defining for tactical media is not the medium itself, but the attitude towards media."

>> Jasia Reichardt, "Cybernetic Serendipity", audiofile from conference, 2005

go: http://radio.sztaki.hu/node/get.php/666pr588

from the conference "Parliaments of Arts 2005", Vienna

>> Saul Albert, "Artware", 1999

from: http://twenteenthcentury.com/saul/artware.htm
Saul Albert, 08/9, Published in Mute Issue 14


Artware

"The idea becomes a machine that makes the art" Sol Lewitt, Artforum, 1967.

;"> The rise of Conceptual Art, which occurred around the time that Sol Lewitt wrote "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art", coincided neatly with the birth of hacker culture--between the transformation of MIT's Tech Model Railway Club into the AI lab in 1963-4, and 1969, the year that ARPANET was set up. Although it is not possible to chart the links between these events in a linear fashion, it is interesting to see their more recent convergence. Artist-programmers have been hunched over computer screens in bedroom-studios (and now, trendy new media labs), bearing much resemblance to the stereotypical teenage hacker of the 80s. Many of the theories in Lewitt's text draw a strong analogy between the Conceptualist use of the 'idea-becoming-machine' and contemporary uses of software in art.

It is one of the defining characteristics of computer programmes that they cross the boundaries between user and author. The move towards software engineering from a more commonplace 'click here' approach to computer based art can be seen as an attempt by artists to engage the user as a co-author of their experience. This relates clearly to the conceptualist strategy of relying on the viewer to make (or imagine the making of) the artwork:

"To work with a plan that is pre-set is one way of avoiding subjectivity. (...) The plan would design the work".

Lewitt saw the execution of the conceptual plan as a tactic for avoiding the 'expressive', or self-consciously authored art object. The conceptualists developed the form of 'instructions for the making of art'. This represented a shift in authorial hegemony from a centralised model (centred in the body of the artist), to a distributed one. However, although by following the instructions anyone could make the artwork, the instructions themselves retained the authorial privilege. The 'original' idea remained sacrosanct. This highlights a contradiction in the stated intention to de-subjectify the artwork, and final result in which the user/viewer is still subjected to the didactic stance of the artist. (1)

In a recent interview with Tilman Baumgaertel, John F Simon Jr. describes the workings of his homemade paint programme:

"Using the artwork to create more artwork... when you run the programme you are demonstrating the writing of the programme."

The use of the programme generates artwork, and Simon invests equal artistic value in the programme itself. It seems that Simon's programmed artwork retains Lewitt's contradiction; on the one hand enabling the user to direct the making of artworks, but at the same time preventing them from directing the way in which the artworks are made, a fact he acknowledges in his interview:

"I have to say that I am not very interested in defining my work through the actions of other people".

This limitation on authorship can be attributed to other factors besides Simon's Conceptualist artistic heritage. The limitations placed on the user of the artwork are framed by the artist's limited authorial privilege in writing and running the programme. For example, the programme is written in a programming language that has a given structure and syntax to which the artist must adhere in order for it to function. Aside from this and countless other dependencies, the artwork/software runs within an Operating System that has a given visual feel, and a given functional structure, not to mention the political, cultural, economic and legal intricacies of IT infrastructure. Of course all of these limitations have their analogous limitations in the physical world of canvas, plaster, dealer and gallery, but it is the nature of these limitations which make the programmer/artist a distinctive figure.

The structures that surround the work of the Artist/Programmer can be examined by looking at the various ways in which artists approach software. Without pretence to exhaustive analysis, I will present the work of a few artists who represent diverse approaches to the artistic use of software.

Keith Tyson wrote his Art Machine programme using Prolog, a language well suited to AI applications. He feeds the programme with a variety of sculptural ingredients, the Art Machine then translates these into instructions on how to make a sculpture. Tyson makes the sculptures, exhibits them and sells them on the art market. The relationship Tyson has with this programme is mutually controlling. He programmes the Art Machine with possible sculptural ingredients and a framework for configuring them, then the art machine programmes him with Conceptualist style 'instructions' for making artwork. The sculptural product of the process can then be introduced to the art market that has its own means of distributing, evaluating and promoting sculptural forms (2). Tyson subjects himself to programming, much in the same way as John F. Simon does when he--rather than another subjected user--is running his homemade software. The products of these interactions are manifestations of the artist's ideas, displayed in a compatible format (sculpture and drawing) for assimilation by the art market. The viewers are placed in an art gallery context, and have no direct interaction with the art machine other than by seeking its rationale through its many bizarre products. The viewers are invited to examine how Keith's relationship with the Art Machine effects his status as the artist, and theirs as the viewer (3).

Paul Garrin's name.space (NS) project is realised and distributed in an entirely different arena. NS is an alternative autonomous Domain Name System with which Garrin hopes to establish a 'Permanent Autonomous Net'. He speaks about the existing Domain Name System being a dominating and semantically territorial regime controlled nefariously by ex CIA officials.

"In the meme of the 'DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM' the message is control, 'DOMINATION', 'TERRITORY'." (Paul Garrin interviewed by Pit Shultz, Nettime, 13th June 1997).

Whether or not this is the case, Garrin's creative use of software is masterful. With only a couple of servers he has created an alternative domain name system. His system does not rely on geographical referents such as .uk, .au, or .jp. Name Space is open to user directed suggestion as to how the name syntax is defined. http://timothy.leary is one example of an NS address. The art world is sidelined here. Garrin is playing to a potentially mass market, and for potentially high financial stakes. Other companies with similar ideas such as Alternic started up at around the same time as NS, so he even had commercial competition. His right to incorporate his system into the mainstream DNS is being contested in the courts.

This artistic use of software attempts to throw off some of the strictures of the technology that Internet users are subjected to. Both the bits of software Garrin uses--Apache and WebStar--are available free (or as demo-ware) over the Internet, and are not designed with the creation of an independent Domain Name Servers in mind, the end to which Garrin cunningly exploits their functionalities. His idea is to facilitate a usage of the Internet that is less mediated by commercial and governmental interests, allowing a user's Internet presence to be nominally self-directed. By playing with the server software that makes up the infrastructure of the Net, he is attempting to bolster the authorial rights of its inhabitants. In this struggle for (signified) territory, Garrin takes his cue from Situationist tactics of détournement, using the technology of the dominators to undermine and subvert their aims (4).

The art collective Mongrel has also taken this Situationist approach to software, by hacking into a popular commercial image editing application and giving it a political charge. The user is invited to edit their heritage using this software tool, and with commands such as 'purge' and 'invert', to alter the image of a skin-masked face in a racially charged visual language. This method of software intervention derives from a hacking tradition of game patching; writing software agents or altering image resources to change the look or function of pre-existing software.

Mongrel breaks the smooth simulated surface of the programme and gives the user a look into the politically dubious and racialized norms of routinely used software. The cropped language of the 'commands' ("Purge", "Execute") reveals the software's own military heritage, and the shocking imagery combined with the 'user-friendly' interface is very unsettling. By altering the programme in these ways, Mongrel shows how these mainstream programmes direct what is produced using them, and even limit the imagination and capabilities of users.

"An emphasis on specific objects gave way to an investigation of instructions as an art form and the role of the artist as communicator to the public gave way to the artist as instigator of public events. "John C. Ippolito on artistic developments since the 60's, Nettime - 04 Sept 1998

In early 1999 the panel of judges for the Prix Ars Electronica chose Linux, the Open Source Operating System (5) as the winner in the .net category. If just the name Linux sends you into a boredom induced coma, skip the next paragraph with which I will try to outline some of the reasons Linux won. The legalities at the basis of Linux's usage are dealt with by licence under the GPL (General Public Licence) which free it from the grasp of commercial software corporations. The central ethos of its development policy has been to make available all the information, tools and code necessary for users to alter the program; the Operating System does not constitute a visual and functional given for any artwork/software made or shown using Linux. The ability of Linux to gather a community of user/authors was acknowledged as a contributing factor to it winning the Golden Nica. The distribution, evaluation and promotion of Linux is done within this Open Source community, ensuring its continuity and growth.

It is this combination of features which allowed the Linux development community to grow so large that Linux's efficiency, quality, and speed of reaction to user demand far outclasses the commercial competition. As a result of this, and the tumult of media hype now surrounding Linux, that it has become the only real challenger to Microsoft's market domination.

As to how the Judges came to choose Linux for the Ars Electronica prize, Lewitt's words are resonant

"The idea becomes a machine that makes the art"

When Linux is examined using artistic criteria, it reveals a very high degree of critical rigour in its execution and conception (this rigorous approach was necessary to the legality of the project). Most of all, Linux is a beautifully clear realisation of the idea of Open Source. By awarding the Golden Nica to Linux, the judges were revealing the connection between Lewitt's Conceptualism and the hacker/hobbyist dreams of the last forty years.

It is the idea of Open Source that became a machine (Linux) which both constitutes and facilitates the artwork.

Saul Albert
08/99

Published in Mute Issue 14
ISSN 1356-7748

Notes

1. < I am not criticising Lewitt's work with this observation, I am simply pointing out a link between his work, and the issues surrounding the work of artist's using software.
2. < Keith has drawn up Jackson structure diagrams (family tree-like hierarchical arrangements) of the way money flows through the art market. His use of the art-machine to interface with these money flows is extremely well calculated.
3. < Keith's under used "Replicators" project for adaweb works along similar lines and is worth a try at: http://adaweb.walkerart.org/influx/tyson/
4. < Retired artist and "aspiring revolutionary" Heath Bunting relates to this territorial struggle in a recent interview at London's Expo Destructo. Although he has shifted ground to biotech, his intentions and methods are very similar to Garrin's.
5. < For those of you who don't know what Open Source is try Eric S. Raymond "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", but for now, the characteristics listed below may give you some idea.

Bibliography

1. Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art, Artforum vol 5 no. 10 summer 1967 pp 79-83
2. To: nettime-l@Desk.nl Subject: (nettime) more on Bochner/jodi/formalism From: "Jon C. Ippolito" (JIppolito@guggenheim.org) Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 11:39:51 -0400
3. To: nettime-l@bbs.thing.net, kunstvereinn@odn.de Subject: (nettime) Interview with John F. Simon From: Tilman Baumgaertel (tilman_baumgaertel@csi.com) Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:47:04 +0200
4. To: nettime-l@Desk.nl Subject: (nettime) Pit Schultz Interview with Paul Garrin From: (mf@mediafilter.org) (MediaFilter) Date: Fri,13 Jun 1997 03:54:51 -0400