The 13th screen is computer/hardware I designed as a democratic editing device to be used with communities as a collaborative tool or with individuals in performance. The machine repurposes a surveillance multiplexor to cut when the camera person cues it through putting their hand over the lens for a second causing the screen to go black. This black causes that view, and everything After the black to appear on the ‘edited’ screen until an alternate camera is cued. The 13th screen is shown as a multi channel piece or as a single channel screen of automatically assembled cuts as cued by participants live or recorded. The device was funded through NYSCA’s Individual Artist grant of 2007. It was originally designed for the Subliminal History of New York State; Route of Progress tour in 2007 travelling to 6 towns working with 6 local communities to create a publically shown piece that demonstrates what it is that a community of people can create together that one individual cannot possibly create alone. The 13th screen was designed with the intention to provide another view un-accessible to one individual. In the original situation the 13th took the role of a medium gathering a variety of transmission with no external editor, it accepts the subjectivity rather than objectivity. Through the participants will it harvests selected shots to create one whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.The machine is now being used to create individual performances with the audience participation in the form of camera people and with alternate towns allowing collaboration between various members.