Video surveillance began on October 28, 2006. I installed a small camera in
the houseplant in my front window and recorded 24/7 on specialty VHS tapes.
Each morning, I would watch all of the footage from the previous day and edited
out every clip in which someone interacted with my garbage cans. On May 8, 2007,
I installed a second surveillance camera in my other window and installed a splitter
so that the two cameras would film split screen on a single VHS tape. The following
videos are some of the highlights from the project, although a deep dive will reveal numerous other strange and fascinating moments.
9/5/06 - I paint numbers on top of my garbage cans in the hopes that I will be able to track them using Google Earth.
11/29/06 - A rat acrobatically climbs into my garbage can.
12/3/06 - Man in white coat drapes a sheet over both garbage cans.
12/11/06 - Four people check out a hat from my garbage can.
2/24/07 - Angry man kicks my garbage cans.
2/25/07 - Man chugs a beer, throws it on the ground, and puts something in the can.
2/27/07 - Man takes a photograph of my apartment through the the front window.
3/12/07 - Man drinks a found cup of coffee and I capture a garbage can theft.
3/24/07 - Woman puts a tree behind my garbage cans.
5/9/07 - Man takes a bag out of my garbage can and dumps its contents on the sidewalk.
5/11/07 - A sudden gust of wind.
5/24/07 - A truck drives into my garbage cans.
6/28/07 - Man takes a photograph of the sanitation workers.
7/13/07 - A very long telephone conversation.
3/01/08 - Moving Day.