Julia Scher
Further images
Emerging in the mid 1980s as a precise but playful analyst of social and technological changes, Julia Scher Scher (b. 1954, Hollywood, California, USA) has been working with video surveillance for over 40 years. Perched on pedestals, Jacqueline and Bernadette are at first glance two owls carved in beige marble. In Julia Scher’s imagination however, the form of the owl is not strictly bird-like, the stance and legs are modeled on those of humans, specifically of men, while the imposing shoulders and brow are of human and horse origins. Even the owls’ coat is a mix of feathers and hair. Signifiers of wisdom and watchfulness, owl’s night vision and the ability to see prey make the animal a formidable hunter and predator, suggesting a subtle but wide-reaching analogy to surveillance technologies and their usages.