URME Surveillance is an subversive intervention that protects the public from facial recognition surveillance systems in a variety of ways. The principle method is by inviting the public to wear a photo-realistic, 3D-printed prosthetic of my face. When a user dons the prosthetic, camera systems equipped with facial recognition software identify that user as myself, thus attributing all of their actions to the identity known as “Leo Selvaggio.” In this way, wearers of the prosthetic safeguard their own identities by performing my persona in surveilled areas.

URME Surveillance currently consists of three primary devices. The first is the URME Surveillance Identity Prosthetic, which is a 3D printed, photo-realistic mask of my face. The second is the URME Paper Mask, a economical alternative that lends itself to groups such as activists and protesters, and lastly the URME Facial Video Encryptor, a custom built software that encrypts files by digitally replacing up to five faces in the video with my own. These devices are made available to the public at www.URMESurveillance.com. Click on the names below to navigate to each device on the URME Surveillance website.

IDENTITY PROSTHETIC

URME Paper Mask

URME FVE

Above is a GIF demonstrating the URME Facial Video Encryptor.

Below is a GIF of a variation of URME FVE working live in the gallery.

URME Surveillance received generous support, including:

1. The Albert P. Weisman Award during the project's inception.

2. ThatsMyFace.com which manufactures the URME Prosthetic at a deep discount for my audience.

3. The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Individual Artists Program Professional Development Grant.

4. lastly by the public-at-large through an Indiegogo Campaign which raised 256% of the project's funding goal.

Through this generous support, I have been able to promote and expand the URME Surveillance project significantly through three primary modes of presentation: exhibition, public engagement, and publication. 

This wall consisted of 80 dummy cameras that move when motion is detected. Their toy-like aesthetic suggests that the camera is a nostalgic symbol for surveillance, while the tablet only a few feet away represents modern surveillance technologies. Installation is modular.

Above: URME Selfies taken by particpants using the provided tablet.

This installation of the URME Surveillance Prosthetic includes a mirror, pictographic instructions and a surveillance device in the form of a tablet. Viewers are encouraged reexamine notions of identity and its stability under the threat of surveillance 

This installation, titled, URMEDEMIREVERSOPTICON was created for this year long exhibition, that marries URME Surveillance with a related body of creative research titled “If I can’t see them”. URMEDEMIREVERSOPTICON is arranged into a funnel, creating a reflected inner space that multiples the viewer standing within it's center, with the option to put on the URME Surveillance Prosthetic. While these mirrors act as agents of surveillance, the sandbags that support the mirrors and prevent them from falling over are embossed with word pairings and phrases that explore the enmeshed complexity of surveillance culture. This work was on view at Paul Robeson Galleries at Rutgers University Newark.

Em(body) Exhibtion, Chicago 2016

I was invited by Chicago artist and curator Eden Unluata to create site specific work in the historic Uptown Arts Center. I chose to engage a corner that seemed unresolved to me which allowed me to use new materials for this installation, specifically quarter-dome security mirrors.

SAINT-ETIENNE DESIGN BIENNIALE, FRANCE 2015

URME Surveillance was invited to be exhibit as part of the Saint-Etienne Design Biennial in the A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N exhibition. In addition to the Surveillance Identity Prosthetic, they requested the illustrations drawn for URME Surveillance by Haley Weigman.

Chicago Artist Month 2015

I was selected as a featured artist for Chicago Artist Month as part of the People's Pamphlets exhibition at Spudnik Press. To find out more click here

Rendering Realities Exhibition @ Big Brother Awards 2016

I was invited by curator Margarita Osipian to show work as part of the Big Brother Awards in Amsterdam. The work included several installations including one in the foyer of the theatre, two additional installations in the theatre's restrooms. In addition on the night of the awards, four performers roamed the premises wearing the URME Surveillance Prosthetic. Versions of my URME Paper Mask were designed into the exhibition programs.  

Wende Museum: Facial Recognition 2016

I was invited to exhibit a new composition of surveillance mirrors in addition to the URME prosthetic. I also designed an augmented reality component for the Wende, and served as a consultant for a portion of the curatorial research around the exhibition

Weisman Award Exhibtion, Chicago 2014

URME Surveillance was graciously funded by the Albert P. Weisman Grant, which resulted in the following exhibition. URME Surveillance was also selected for the Weisman Purchase Prize, and was subsequently installed at Columbia College Chicago

Technologic @ Chicago Art Department 2014

Art Souterrain Art Festival 2015

Art Souterrain is an annual festival that floods Montreal's underground tunnels and buildings with over 60 public art works. URME Surveillance was invited to exhibit its Facial Video Encryption software. In addition over 200 URME Paper Masks were distributed on opening night. I spent 3 hours talking with the public about my project and how it fit this years theme of security it public spaces.

URME Public Workshop 2014

We began with an active discussion about surveillance and its connection to identity, prejudice, and power. Participants wereinvited to make paper masks of themselves or of the artist's face to be worn in a walk to Crown Fountain. All activities were challenge-by-choice. This is the first time that the public was invited to use their own faces for this project. You can view a short video below.

ISEA 2015 Vancouver, CA

I was awarded a DCASE IAP Grant to travel to present an academic paper and exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery as part of Disruption for the ISEA conference. The exhibition included three student performers from Simon Fraser University wearing my prosthetic that roamed the event and interacted with visitors. I also talked to and distributed over 300 URME Paper Maks to visitors. 

SELECT PRESS

• Hyperallergic article by Ben Valentine

• Makeshift Magazine Interview by Maria Gallucci

• CNET article by Leslie Katz

• 3Dp's article by Shanie Phillips

• Washington Post article by Gail Sullivan

• The Creator's Project article by Zach Sokol

• The Verge article by Jacob Kastrenakes

• Fast Company article by Suzanne LaBarre

• The State of Surveillance Today by Bill Brown of the Surveillance Camera Players

• The Kernel article by Joseph Cox

Select PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATION

• 2017 “Am I Seen: The Reciprocal Nature of Identity and Technology”, Contributed Chapter in Evolution of the Image, Routledge

• 2017 Better World By Design Conference, Student Organized, Brown University

• 2016 Surveillance, McLuhan, and the Social Prosthesis: Examining the Construction and Presentation of Identity, Behind the Smart World Publication

• 2015 CAA Panel Surveillance as Art Material chaired by Jessamyn Lovell and Trish Stone

• 2015 URME Surveillance: Performing Privilege in the Face of Automation , International Journal of Performance and Digital Media.

• 2015 a version of the paper above was presented and published at the ISEA 2015 conference

• 2014 Personal Experience of Surveillance; presentation and panel at NEW inc, New Museum, NY, NY

RT News International

NBC 5 Chicago

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