The Stalk Show

The StalkShow deals with threat of unsafety and isolation in public spaces.

The performer carries a backpack, containing a laptop with a touch screen. It is a wearable billboard, with an attached webcam that records the face of the user of the touch screen.

Passersby are invited to touch the screen and navigate through statements about insecurity and isolation. The statements were written by asylum seekers, nuns, prisoners, digipersonas and others who live an isolated life. The user can identify her/himself with one of these persons and navigate through his/her statements. The navigation is displayed by a video projection on a large screen located in the same space (train stations, museums, squares, airports, etc.) The projection shows the portrait of the person that is using the touchscreen, together with the statements suprimposed over the portrait. The user "watches" through a technically created, social-psychological frame of mind which seems to have a life of its own.

By Karen Lancel and Hermen Maat who will present their work at URBAN SCREENS 2005, Discovering the Potential of Outdoor Screens for Urban Society, 23/24 September, Amsterdam.