Transmission Study
My grad studio at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago was affectionately known as the fish bowl, because onlookers were able to look down into it from near the school entrance. A number of students preferred to stay away from this space as it lacked the hermetic privacy of most studio spaces. I liked the potential of social interaction, and I started this project as a way to gaze back.
Fabricated from raw materials, the 25-foot tower incorporates four surveillance cameras, three red beacon lights, and a bullhorn loudspeaker. The cameras provided a 180-degree view of the building entrance, the beacon lights were programmed to progressively blink out greetings in Morse code, and the bullhorn allowed me to bark loudly at anyone looking down into the studio.
