SOMEONE

Lauren Lee McCarthy
Source: Lauren Lee McCarthy

Lauren Lee McCarthy

SOMEONE ,
Co-workers & Funding
Software and hardware development by Harvey Moon and Josh Billions. Interface development by Lauren Lee McCarthy. Furniture design in collaboration with and fabrication by Lela Barclay de Tolly. Smart home participant collaborators include Valeria Haedo, Adelle Lin, Amanda McDonald Crowley, and Ksenya Samarskaya. SOMEONE was created with support from a Google Focused Research Award and the Harvestworks New Works Residency. It was first exhibited at 205 Hudson Gallery as part of Refiguring the Future. Screenshots by Lauren Lee McCarthy, installation photos by Stan Narten and Otto Saxinger.
Documents
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Description
SOMEONE imagines a human version of Amazon Alexa, a smart home intelligence for people in their own homes. For a two month period in 2019, four participants’ homes around the United States were installed with custom-designed smart devices, including cameras, microphones, lights, and other appliances. 205 Hudson Gallery in NYC housed a command center where visitors could peek into the four homes via laptops, watch over them, and remotely control their networked devices. Visitors would hear smart home occupants call out for “Someone”—prompting the visitors to step in as their home automation assistant and respond to their needs. This video installation presents documentation from the initial performance on four screens throughout the space.
Keywords
  • aesthetics
    • interactive
    • performative
    • real-time
  • genres
    • installations
      • interactive installations
      • performative installations
    • telematic art
  • subjects
    • Body and Psychology
      • agency
    • Technology and Innovation
      • artificial life
  • technology
    • interfaces
      • interactive media
Technology & Material
Hardware
Raspberry PI, IP cameras, laptops, custom electronics
Software
HTML, JS, CSS, Node.js
Exhibitions & Events
Bibliography