Zoom Pavilion is an interactive installation that consists of an immersive projection on several walls, fed by 12 computerized surveillance systems trained on the public. The piece uses face recognition algorithms to detect the presence of participants and record their spatial relationship within the exhibition space. Zoom Pavilion is at once an experimental platform for self-representation and a giant microscope to connect the public to each other and track their assembly. Independent cameras zoom in to amplify the images of the public with up to 35x magnification: the zooming sequences are disorienting as they change the entire image “landscape” from easily recognizable wide shots of the crowd to abstract close-ups.
The whole installation is in a fluid state of camera movement, highlighting different participants and creating a constantly changing animation based on amplification and tracking.
Recently premiered at the MUAC Museum in Mexico City, Zoom Pavilion marks the first collaboration between artists Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Krzysztof Wodiczko. These artists’ practices often involve the transformation of an existing public space using projection technologies to “augment” the site with alternative histories, critical symbolism or new public relationships. This piece emphasizes the temporary construction of connective space by visualizing ubiquitous predatory technologies of tracking and control.