Boingboing points out a great example of what, I guess, would be termed “surveillance-generated content.” Honestly, I’m not really sure how to describe it, but the gist is that an unsigned British band, looking to conserve money, hit upon the idea of using the 13 million-odd CCTV cameras in the U.K. to create a music video.

Random trivia fact: London has the highest density of surveillance cameras in the world.

The band set up their music equipment, from microphones to drum kit, in eighty different locations, including busses and what appear to be taxi cabs, and then requested all of the footage using the Data Protection Act, an English statute similar to the U.S.’s Freedom of Information Act that mandates any individual should have access to all information collected about them.

Interestingly enough, the video created using this footage (included after the jump) was originally uploaded to YouTube in December of last year, but recent coverage by the Telegraph and by BoingBoing has spurred an resurrected interest in it and the video has appeared a second time on the site, gaining an extra 20,000 views in the span of about 24 hours.

It’s hard for me to place my finger on exactly what makes this seem like something ripe for a viral take-off to me. I think it’s the playful subversive quality of using something designed at best for a serious purpose (e.g. stopping crime) and, at worst, for nefarious uses (e.g. totalitarian monitoring of citizens a la 1984), gives this video a Banksy-esque feel.

Don’t get me wrong, the idea of using CCTV cameras to create video content is not new. Adam Rifkin’s film “Look” is a great example of a movie shot entirely from the perspective of a security camera. What makes the Get Out Clause’s video so great, as well as the DPA-aided work of filmmaker Manu Luksch, such great examples of counter culture is that it utilizes a government act designed to provide information to citizens as a medium to create art. And that’s the stuff that viral videos are made of.

Videos of the Get Out Clause and Manu Luksch’s “Faceless” after the jump.

Related posts:

1. Location-Based Music Video
2. User-Created Videos Helps Skyrocket Shakira Song
3. Free Public Transportation Music Downloads
4. Will brand sponsorship bring back music videos?
5. Do Computers Dream of Intellectual Property?

6 Responses to “Viral Music Video Created Using Surveillance Cameras”

1. Surveillance Arts « throw sheet Says:
   May 19th, 2009 at 5:48 am

   [...] The Future of Media [...]

2. todd norbury’s photography blog » Blog Archive » Viral Music Video Created Using Surveillance Cameras Says:
   June 24th, 2009 at 2:14 pm

   [...] The Future of Media » Blog Archive » Viral Music Video Created Using Surveillance Cameras. Share : [...]

3. Plugged In- what does it really mean? « Agoodefinish Says:
   June 24th, 2009 at 6:56 pm

   [...] inspirational and insightful. I found a blog post from Chase Jarvis about an article from the blog The Future of Media about an indie band that was picked up by the UK. (whew that was a mouthfull)  Its [...]

4. Music video production on the cheap | Gulf Broadcast Says:
   November 7th, 2009 at 12:53 am

   [...] via: Chase Jarvis • Lens Culture • The Future of Media • [...]

5. Subversive Winner: Make A Music Video With Surveillance Cameras | Chase Jarvis Blog Says:
   April 13th, 2010 at 10:43 am

   [...] whether you like the track or not… Reminds us why art and new media is so freaking cool. From The Future of Media: “The band set up their music equipment, from microphones to drum kit, in eighty different [...]

6. Viral Future Says:
   June 26th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

   Great Post. Viral Videos are the new marketing campaigns of many companies. It is a growing trend

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