CamSign
CCTV music
The number of CCTV cameras watching us is increasing. Wherever we go, each movement is being tracked and observed. CCTV music is an interactive sound installation using the same technique as security service but instead of a visual image an audible interpretation of the supervised area is given. The installation reacts to each and every movement; the combination of direction, intensity, and size decides what sound is going to be heard. There are also lines and scales where specific notes can be found.

CCTV music is not only a comment to the increasingly supervised society but also a music instrument, a stage, and a toy. Anyone who enters the installation is both musician and dancer. Clearly, it questions the traditional relationship between music and dance. We are used to dance relating to music that is usually composed beforehand, perhaps even pre-recorded. In CCTV music, though, music is created by movement, and completely dependent on it. That gives unusual power, and unusual possibilities, to the mover. On the other hand one cannot move within the installation without making a sound. The installation also questions the traditional relationship between performer and audience. CCTV music can be said to be a democratic stage where anyone can entre or leave at any point in the improvised performance. At the same time it is like a giant baby gym for all ages – and it sure is joyful to play in it!

CCTV music has sprung out of the project Interaktiver Pavillon in Dresden, Germany. The Interactive Pavilion is a sound installation developed by TransMedieAkademie Hellerau, and is situated in a wooden structure in the city centre of Dresden. It is active daytime all around the year, and anyone can use it to produce sound and music. Sound set-ups were made by different musicians, and are changed a couple of times a year. In 2006 and 2007, Christian Björklund made two different set-ups for the Pavilion. Christian Björklund and Emelie Bardon are also involved in the project European Tele-Plateaus, a further development of the Interactive Pavilion. European Tele-Plateaus connects interactive installations in several European countries.