The Man of the Crowd
2003-2004, 4 LCD diplays, 2 personal computers, 4 speakers, webcam, plasterboard, wood, text,
300 x 160 x 400 cm
Four video displays are attached to the walls of a wide corridor, two on each wall. As the spectator enters the corridor the corridor she sees white screens. As she moves down the corridor images appear on the screen; she sees the head and shoulders of a man walking past. The same man appears on all of the monitors at different intervals. The frequency of the man passing on the screens is increased as the movement of the spectator(s) in the corridor increases. As the corridor fills up with people, the screens ‘fill up’ with images of the man passing.
The Man of the Crowd is an attempt at analysing and reconstructing the movements of a crowd. Crowds, like complex natural phenomena such as the movements of air masses and bodies of water, are often interpreted as single entities with an underlying pattern of movement that supersedes the behaviour of their composite elements. The installation uses interactivity as a means of enhancing the random nature of crowd movements. The images (the movement of the crowd) are presented to the spectator in a sequence that cannot be pre-determined. Like walking in a crowded street the spectator has a direct effect on the crowd’s behaviour.
Presented during the event Si: alors: sinon at Daimon in Gatineau, Québec in November 2003 and at
ESPACE 1004, Montréal, Québec in June 2004 in an exhibition programmed and organised by Espace Vidéographe.