A Psychology of Indirect Surveillance by Trevor Abbott

A Psychology of Indirect Surveillance by Trevor Abbott is an exhibition of screenprints and a vinyl recording concerned with the idea of layering, compression, distortion, copying and varying resolutions of visual and audio information.

In the age of digital reproduction, the image can exist in different and potentially infinite versions as it circulates in an inchoate state. At first glance ‘A Psychology of Indirect Surveillance’ presents a series of beautiful prints masterly created by Abbott but on further enquiry what becomes clear is that these prints are concerned with exploring the field of possibilities embedded in the on-line digital image subjected to and concerned with layering of information. The starting point for the majority of the screen prints in this exhibition is essentially a rather banal image having no particular meaning, yet given that the images are sourced from the internet, an overwhelmingly unsettling atmosphere arises prompting questions concerning the psychology of surveillance.