Khirkeeyaan

2006
Shaina Anand
Khirkeeyaan is an open-circuit TV system intended as a local area network communication, micromedia generation, and feedback device. It employs security apparatuses that are otherwise intended for surveillance and “classified” uses. Four stations of equipment, including a television set, inexpensive surveillance equipment, radio frequency (RF) modulator, microphone, audio mixer, and coax cable are installed to form a quadrant system for public collaboration. Sound and image feeds from each station are fed back to a corresponding TV, allowing the subject/viewer/performer/audience to interact with others in the frame. The video playback becomes the host site for these interactions and conversations. Filmmaking acts as an automatic function made possible through eye-level communication, real-time feedback—all without director, camera operator, or editor. Anand recorded segments from seven independent installations of Khirkeeyaan in New Delhi during her associate residency at Khoj studios in April 2006 in an effort to expose her process of documentary filmmaking, and to encourage a merging of the creation, reception, and consumption of media.