Beobachtung der Beobachtung: Unbestimmtheit

The closed-circuit video installation »Beobachtung der Beobachtung: Unbestimmtheit« [Observation of the Observation: Uncertainty] was conceived by Peter Weibel for the exhibition »Trigon 73, Audiovisuelle Botschaften« at Künstlerhaus Graz. It consists of three cameras and three monitors, which are positioned opposite each other in a circle and oriented towards its center. A pentagram is glued to the floor, which results from the positions of the monitors and cameras.

When you enter the closed circuit, you will be filmed and can observe yourself at the same time. However, you cannot see the view of your face and the view from the front, however much you twist and turn. Your body can only be seen fragmentarily. This installation is part of a series of works that deal with problems of cybernetics and quantum physics: the observer cannot observe its own observation. Thus, Peter Weibel points out the limitations of the human apparatus of perception. The observer is a prisoner of perspective.