WeiweiCam is a self-
surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...
project by artist
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei ( ; , IPA: ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been ...
, in China, that went live on April 3, 2012, exactly one year after the artist's detention by Chinese officials at
Beijing Airport.
At least fifteen surveillance cameras monitor his house in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
which, according to Ai, makes it the most-watched spot of the city.
Description
He described his decision to put himself under further surveillance as a symbolic way to increase transparency in the Chinese government.
WeiweiCam consisted of four webcams that sent a live 24-hour feed publicly viewable from the website weiweicam.com.
46 hours after the site went live Ai Weiwei was instructed to shut down WeiweiCam by Chinese authorities.
Reception and legacy
During the time weiweicam.com was live it received 5.2 million views.
WeiweiCam was included in "What We Watch", an exhibition on net art and surveillance, at COFAspace Gallery, UNSW College of Fine Arts.
What We Watch Exhibition
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Until June 30, 2013, WeiweiCam was seen at th
Germany. In the context of the exhibition "Freedom!" the visitors can contact the artist directly via Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
.
See also
*Caochangdi
Caochangdi () was an urban village and renowned arts district located in the Chaoyang District of northeast Beijing at the intersection of the 5th Ring Road and Airport Expressway. Translated as "grasslands" in Mandarin, Caochangdi was home to a ...
* List of works by Ai Weiwei
References
External links
"WeiweiCam Projections"WeiweiCam painting
{{Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei
Video art
Arts in China
2012 in art