{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1500028"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1500028/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1500028","accessionNumber":"E.1050-2019","objectType":"Video File","titles":[{"title":"Exhausting a Crowd","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Inspired by the classic book from Georges Perec, “An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris”, written from a bench over three days in 1974. “Exhausting a Crowd” automates the task of completely describing the events of 12 hours in a busy public space in London. This work speaks to the potential of a perfectly automated future of surveillance, enabled by a distributed combination of machine and human intelligence. A record of the energy present in shared space, as well as a disturbing peek into the potential for control in a dystopian environment.","physicalDescription":"The video file is twelve hours of footage shot over two days at Piccadilly Circus. The commentary, accumulated since the piece launched, was created by online visitors to the site who created “tags” to point out details. They provide narration for invented dialogues and ascribe thoughts to passersby. They also offer observations about people’s appearance, pose the occasional philosophical question and affix onomatopoeic texts to cars, buses, taxis and pedestrians.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Kyle McDonald","id":"AUTH353075"},"association":{"text":"Artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"digital files","id":"THES286710"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"digital video file","categories":[],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES414587"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"74A","id":"THES263251"},"free":"","case":"WE","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"video file","id":"THES286706"}],[{"text":"video file","id":"THES286706"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"The work was filmed in London but the video file was compiled by the artist in his studio in America"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2015","earliest":"2015-01-01","latest":"2015-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":"The work was made in 2015. The work was live for 2 years and the subsequent video file was compiled in 2019."}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"“Exhausting a Crowd” by Kyle McDonald\r\nWith Jonas Jongejan: Collaboration and Site development\r\nCommissioned by Victoria and Albert Museum for “All of this Belongs to You”\r\n","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"4k format, h.265/HEVC in an MP4 container, along with a smaller MP4 render for browser playback.\n\n\r\n","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Exhausting a Crowd, 2015 by Kyle McDonald","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Watching each other\n\nKyle McDonald describes this digital artwork as a ‘crowdsourced description of 12 hours in Piccadilly Circus’. To create the piece, he designed a web-based platform to which he uploaded video footage of this London landmark and then invited the public to add tags, commenting on details they observed. Often silly or absurd, the comments imagine interactions between passers-by and what they might be thinking. McDonald’s artwork highlights a tension between knowing what others are doing and the reach of mass surveillance.\n\nCrowdsourced description of Piccadilly Circus \n‘Exhausting a Crowd’, 2015 \nCreated by Kyle McDonald, USA \nDigital file \nMuseum no. E.1050-2019\n\nThe object sits in the 'Crisis and Conflict' section of the Design 1900-Now gallery opened in June 2021.","date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["E.1050:1-2019","E.1050:2-2019"],"accessionNumberNum":"1050","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2019,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019MH0245"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-16","recordCreationDate":"2019-06-24","availableToBook":false}}