Surveillance as a regime of control relies on the capacity to observe while remaining unobserved, the interiorization of the policing gaze, and the interpellation of citizen surveillers. In always (potentially) being watched, we are trained to watch ourselves—and increasingly, to watch one another. In an uncanny gesture of hide and seek, seek and hide, the blindfolds’ embroidered eyes propel the seers’ gaze onto endless surveilling-surveilance loop. Masked, the surveilled return the gaze of the unseen surveillers, while simultaneously turning the self-surveilling gaze inward.

#SurveillingSurveillance was performed twice in Washington Square, NYC by the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics Surveillance Team (documentation by Victor Bautista). Here are two short video of our Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 surveillance expeditions.

COMING SOON—How-to youtube video with complete DYI #SurveillingSurveillance instructions including a stencil and instructions on how to make #SurveillingSurveillance blindfolds and a performance that can be easily adapted to suit your #SurveillingSurveillance needs.