Public space / Private view (1996)
Public space / Private view
80 x 100 cm
Project Optitheek ?live? fictional city - point of view
Rotterdam Festivals, Delocaties 2
The Optibase is a database of the city of Rotterdam which provides a view of the city through a computer system. Aerial photographs, city plans and panoramic photographs can be retrieved through a pull down menu. By selecting certain locations on a detailed map, any one of the 90.000 panoramic photographs available can be called up. To this visual information other types of information are linked; for example whether a house is privately owned or rented. The panoramic photographs were taken in the streets with a purpose-built camera car, always under the same conditions: under a clouded sky at a quiet time of day with little traffic. These black and white photographs present a rather lifeless image of the city.