In the United States, where video-surveillance is extensive, a small, several-year-old group alerts people to the problem in an original way. Called the Surveillance Camera Players, the group's members use paper and ink-markers to express themselves, because surveillance cameras cannot pick up sound. In the manner of silent films, the group presents theatrical skits.

"The group was founded at the end of 1996, and has changed the way it performs since then," says Bill Brown, co-founder and current director of the SCP. "In the beginning, we used primarily used pantomime and lots of little boards that explained who the characters were and where the scene was set. These days, we've moved away from pantomime and have started using very large boards that have message upon them like 'We know you are watching: mind your own business.' Some of the people who see us perform appreciate what we're trying to do. Others think that we're wasting their time. Most of them didn't know that they're being watched by surveillance cameras. When they find out, they tend to get angry immediately."

Surveillance cameras are also in use [here] in Italy, for example, in banks and stores. On orders from the government, a sign must be posted.

[Published in June (?) 2001 by Diritto. Translated from the Italian into English by an Internet robot and checked by a hooman being.]

Contact the NY Surveillance Camera Players

By e-mail SCP

By snail mail: SCP c/o NOT BORED! POB 1115, Stuyvesant Station, New York City 10009-9998