#mediated view

“There is no front facade, only a front door. The weekend house is conceived as a passage from physical entry to optical departure or, simply, a door to a window. Beyond the door, a knife-edge cuts the receding 100’ ft long passage in two. To the left is a sequence of bedrooms and baths. To the right is the ascent to the kitchen and living area. At the far end is the ocean view. To either side of the “picture window” are two antenna-like stacks: the chimney is to the right, the video apparatus to the left. At the summit of the left stack sits a live video camera directed at the water view and feeding the monitor in front of the picture window. The electronic view is operable; the camera can pan or zoom by remote control. When recorded, the view may be deferred— day played back at night, fair weather played back in foul. The composite view formed by the screen in front of the picture window is always out of register, collapsing the opposition between the authentic and mediated.”