SAFE
January 11 - March 6, 2008
William Betts
Betts explores the sociological and philosophical implications of surveillance in contemporary society with this series of paintings based on found and staged surveillance from a variety of sources. With few specific visual clues other than the time stamp, the work relies on a unique perspective and presents ambiguity and anonymity as its subject to draw the viewer into a vague and questioning environment.
We now live in a world in which surveillance is widely used as both a deterrent and for social control. We have all seen these low res images and inevitably their narrative is not benign. So, when confronted with an image of an anonymous jogger in a park, or an individual with a backpack walking down a corridor, we become alert to a perceived threat. In a world where our safety has become color coded, these paintings toy with our senses, play with our conditioned responses, and their mechanical nature intensifies the pervasive chill of institutional voyeurism.
For this series of paintings based on surveillance video images, Betts used advanced computer controlled linear motion technology and a proprietary software system of his own design to apply thousands of drips of paint with robot-like precision. The dimensionality of each individual drip of high gloss acrylic paint catches the light and reflects it further mimicking the internally lit quality of video. In addition, Betts developed a color palette based on RGB additive component video to create 'black and white' images using only colored paint. A typical painting has between 30,000 and 40,000 individually applied drips of paint.
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