The Surveilled City
October - November 2025
Chanel Feng, Denny Wang, Sophia Wan
GPS-based Interactive Web Experience / Critical Data Art
Visual Studio Code
There are roughly 1 billion surveillance cameras worldwide, and 700 million of them are in China. Shanghai, one of China’s most populous cities, owns 15 million cameras alone. Though being aware of the fact, this level of ubiquitous monitoring often seems to be invisible to us when we actually walk or move around. This project collected the camera data of an area of around 640,000 m² in Qiantan, Shanghai, through the artists’ street observation because of a lack of open datasets online. The Surveilled City creates a unique experience for users to feel the precise moments and locations where they are most intensely observed, while also seeing the activity of others. The movement data from all participants collectively form a temporary, distinctive piece of public artwork.
👁️ Concept Video 👁️
@
IMA End-of-Semester Show, 2025 Fall