Antibodies
ANTIBODIES is an interactive installation that tracks the faces of participants and elicits facial expressions. Created during the first COVID19 lockdown, the piece reflects on how absent and detached we’ve become during video meetings and online social gatherings.
With no other options to sustain our social human nature, we are forced to engage with the virtual communication platforms, no questions asked. On top of the security risks, we also become completely exposed as these technologies listen to our conversations, track our movements and study our behaviours. ANTIBODIES brings this to light by clearly visualising the active tracking action with overlaid graphics that follow our faces’ every move. The piece also highlights the issue of self-awareness: in real life you only see others around you, never yourself, whereas in this “new normal” scenario you are also in the crowd you perceive, which can provoke a plethora of emotions from susceptibility to restraint and insecurity. Finally, it points to how easy it is to be “present” yet completely absent-minded in such contexts, pretending to pay attention only by being in front of a screen.