Another work by James Coupe. I developed the core algorithms and application to create the "empty room".

Commissioned by Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore USA
Exhibited as part of Undercover January 27 - March 11, 2012

Video cameras, monitors, computers

It is that way with me: before me always an empty space; what drives me forward is a consequence that lies behind me.

Kierkegaard

Five cameras are located in the center of the gallery, panoptically configured to continuously monitor a 360-degree field of view. Computers process the video captured by the cameras and filter out any footage that contains movement. Five screens on the wall of the gallery construct a panoramic representation of the gallery via the camera feeds. Regardless of the number of people in the gallery, it always appears empty in the video footage. Although the panorama seems unified, each screen is temporally inconsistent and discontinuous with the others. People who stand alone and motionless for long enough create glitches in the system and are momentarily inserted into the panorama, before being gradually replaced by an empty gallery once they start moving. Rather than capturing people's actions, it erases them altogether.