The codification of humanity

Chris Oakley's video The Catalogue deals with the retail environment, surveillance technology, RFID and data brokers, where access to consumers' data has been extended beyond our purchasing habits and lifestyle choices to the predictions of our future health prospects via analysis of the data from our weekly shop.

Utilising footage from a department store manipulated through motion tracking and screen overlays that graphically represent the goods bought, The Catalogue places the viewer into the position of a remote agency, observing humanity as a series of trackable units whose value is defined by their spending capacity and future needs.

Check the video.
First seen in February 2005 at Transmediale.