[52 E 7th St] is an exploration of the voyeuristic tendencies that people have in public and private spaces. It is a collaboration made possible by Albert Dang, Christopher Dye, Hee Jung, and Kyle Li. In the film Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock demonstrates how observing others in this way often leads to blending perceptions of the eye with perceptions of the mind, thereby forming a dynamic narrative for the viewer to make interpretations of what he sees in both a conscious and subconscious manner. The choice to use The Sims as a medium highlights how voyeuristic behavior objectifies our subject matter in order to make this process of interpretation more apparent. As Scott McCloud elucidates in Understanding Comics, the abstraction of the form allows the viewer to project his own self on the depicted person. Through the use of a live web camera feed into one of the artist’s apartments, [52 E 7th St] suggests that the projection of self from viewing the abstract also occurs when viewing real people in this way.
Digital rendering of the installation:
3D diagram of the monitor placement 
monitor placement 
Dye: We wanted the scenes to be pretty mundane, as voyeuristic scenes actually are. You hope for something to go on, but it rarely does.
Li [Points to a scene of a kid on his computer]: This is what I do every day, from nine to two in the morning.
The Execution:
This project is part of a Sims 24 machinima game jam and competition. We won third place and exhibited in a show with other winners in Chelsea. My main role in the project is to design and create the free-standing sculpture that serves as a window complex to the virtual world of Sims.
This project is part of a Sims 24 machinima game jam and competition. We won third place and exhibited in a show with other winners in Chelsea. My main role in the project is to design and create the free-standing sculpture that serves as a window complex to the virtual world of Sims.
featured in:
New York Magazine article: Sim Art
GamesRadar: Sims and Art meet in New York
MTV News: The Sims at Parsons the New School for Design
Creativity On-line: Parsons the New School for Design meets the Sims