More and more surveillance cameras are popping up; we see them on the street and elsewhere, whether these places are public or not. All of this surveillance takes place under the pretext of "we are watching over your and our private property." And naturally such cameras provide, amongst other things, extra security. The other side of the coin concerns the security officials who monitor the cameras. In general it is a dull job to stare at monitors for hours on end. But in New York there is more to it than that. For the last three years or so, the "Surveillance Camera Players" have been appearing in front of the eyes of surveillance cameras on New York streets. The SCP perform short sketches and acrobatic feats. Their performances are in fact a form of protest against the ever-increasing use of surveillance cameras: they consider it to be a violation of privacy. By the way, their performances are designed to be seen by all of us, and not just surveillance personnel.
[This text was originally published on 1 December 1999 by I-Nieuws. Translated from the Dutch by Justine.]
Contact the Surveillance Camera Players
By e-mail SCP@notbored.org
By snail mail: SCP c/o NOT BORED! POB 1115, Stuyvesant Station, New York City 10009-9998
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