In Vehicle Sightings (2024), I used the surveillance systems at my disposal [as a licensed private investigator] to investigate the systems themselves. I identified a fleet of tow trucks in Brooklyn whose drivers are paid by Motorola to participate in their data-collection network. As the trucks circle the city, cameras mounted on their tow beds—four per rig, shooting in four directions at once—photograph every car on the road. The photos appear in Motorola’s “vehicle sightings” database seconds after they have been taken. I wrote down the license plate number of one truck (24182 TT) and ran a search in the database. In response, I received hundreds of photos that trucks in the fleet had accidentally taken of one another, including images showing the system’s cameras.
Next, I positioned myself in a location that I knew would be photographed by the fleet—outside a repo yard. I waited on the curb for a few hours and then made eye contact with the camera as a tow truck drove by, producing a self portrait. For other works in the series, I staged interventions on top of or next to cars responding to the gaze of this surveillance. In one piece, a Subaru embellished with a tutu has dressed for its close up. In another, a confrontational sign speaks directly to any other viewers of this restricted image: car insurance adjusters, the police, other PIs.
…Read more in Triple Canopy
Self Portrait, 2023
14 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (framed)
3 x 5 1/4 inches (image)
archival pigment print
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Rose, 2023
14 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (framed)
3 x 5 1/4 inches (image)
archival pigment print
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Tutu, 2023
14 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (framed)
3 x 4 inches (image)
archival pigment print
Edition of 3 + 1AP
The Ambassadors, 2024
14 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (framed)
3 x 5 1/4 inches (image)
archival pigment print
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Mirror, 2024
14 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (framed)
3 x 5 1/4 inches (image)
archival pigment print
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Where is the Public, 2023
14 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches (framed)
3 x 5 1/4 inches (image)
archival pigment print
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Watching The Watcher (They Have License Plates Too, 24182 TT), 2024
26 1/4 x 21 7/8 inches
nine archival pigment prints
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Watching The Watcher (They Have License Plates Too, 23639 TT), 2024
26 1/4 x 21 7/8 inches
nine archival pigment prints
Edition of 3 + 1AP
Watching The Watcher (They Have License Plates Too, 24891 TT), 2024
26 1/4 x 21 7/8 inches
nine archival pigment prints
Edition of 3 + 1AP