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Rustomjee Seasons is a building complex consisting of 7 buildings, located in Bandra East. The site is the entrance lobby of ‘E’ wing. Entering the lobby of the posh high-rise, I was surrounded by the presence of several bodies, all in uniforms. The watchman at the desk was focused on watching the CCTV footage displayed on the computer. The second watchman at the opposite end of the lobby overseeing the internal courtyard, his back turned towards me. A pair of cleaners carrying the dustbins out. I immediately felt my body altar itself into an alert posture. I felt watched. I felt the need to behave in a specific manner. I felt watched. I felt restricted and walked quickly through the tunnel-like lobby to escape the surveillance. I did not want to be part of that system again. Until I sat in the same lobby on one of the guest chairs to see what was happening. Sitting, seeing, and seeing some more led me to think.
Everyday the staff is expected to be present at their given spots neatly dressed in their uniform, performing their daily tasks. One experiences rhythms of workers in their uniforms carrying on their work. These dominating rhythms are overlapped by layers of softer rhythms of in between conversations amongst them.
These dominated rhythms of the space produce a distinctive image of the worker. This identification is primarily done through the act of seeing. The site is seen through a series of CCTV footage displayed at the entrance lobby desk.
Uniforms introduced to switch the identity of a stranger to a maintenance staff. CCTV cameras installed to track the movements of this uniformed staff. Security guards in uniforms hired to oversee the camera footage. It is an endless loop of surveillance. Layers and layers of systems are added to the loop, which is assumed to make one feel secure. The general idea of setting up a series of surveillance systems is to watch the strangers who access large spaces co-owned by a specific group of people. These groups can be defined according to class.
Every day, the group expects the staff to be present at their given spots, neatly dressed in their uniform, performing their daily tasks. These dominated rhythms of the space produce a distinctive image of the worker. This image accentuates the idea of the uniform as the worker's identity, which becomes the only way to identify the worker. This identification is primarily done through the act of seeing. The residential building lobby is thus seen through a series of CCTV camera footage displayed at the entrance desk. The response to the rhythms is a performance that disrupts the image of the worker in a uniform. It challenges the idea of surveillance through the act of everyday life.
Drawing the Loop
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