webcam, screen, code, public, payment
2013
In this work a camera and face-tracking algorithms detect viewers, adding their gaze length to an overall counter while subtracting dollars and cents from a sum of money owed to the artist.
The more the work is looked upon, the less valuable it becomes.
In this way the piece initiates a double-edged participation – viewing activates the work while simultaneously undermining the financial value of it. Running counter to digital paradigms, the typically innocuous act of gazing carries a tangible consequence, unable to be undone or reset.
A commission for Digital Art Live, Work Which Loses Value Upon Being Viewed leverages technology to construct a situation which explores notions of worth and work, popularity and participation.
