[ISEA2016] Artist Statement: IRIS LONG & CEDAR ZHOU (I&C) — SURVEILLANCE

Artist Statement

Interactive installation, 2014

“Surveillance” is a performance by two fish – Sharky (red) and George (black) – constantly tracked by an IT system that analyses their speed and the distance they travel in their bowl. Projected onto a screen, these data are combined with those of a stream from a news site, updated every ten seconds and presented in the form of text bubbles, like a series of text messages. With humour that has a certain gravity, this curious set-up reports a real time discussion between two beings, no matter how insignificant, based on events in a world in constant movement.

  • LONG XINRU (Iris) & ZHOU SHAN (Cedar) are a duo of Chinese artists based in London and Beijing. Drawing on information technology, the visual arts, marketing and storytelling (those little tales spun by advertisers around brands to capture our attention), their works explore the idea of virtual reality and its impact on human behaviour from the psychological and sociological point of view. Iris graduated from the Royal College of Art, Cedar from the Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. cedarzhou.com

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