‘Swarm’ is a video project that maps human behavior in public space, exploring the concept of a swarm: the collective motion of self-propelled entities without involving central coordination. Collage blends original videos with crowdsourced YouTube videos, forming a swarm-like digital behavior of global individuals unintentionally contributing to a collective ensemble. ‘Swarm’ proposes attention to an eye that is watching, a gaze monitoring behavior in public space, but also the individual becoming anonymous when assimilated into a crowd. The work juxtaposes the human crowd with natural phenomena. Unlike these, the root cause for human swarming is cultural: architecture, ideas. ‘Swarm’ asks about an individual experience in a swarm and free will. What is it like being a single unit within a large system, and does it not conflict with the sense of personal narrative we hold? When moving in architectural spaces that direct our route, how real is our freedom of choice?
