Only the Envelope: artistic interpretations of eye-tracking imagery

Only the Envelope (OTE) combines research methodologies to investigate the ways we share personal information in the public sphere. In this exposition, we interpret audiovisual documents generated by eye-tracking technology within an artistic research context. The artist (and co-author of this paper), Vahri McKenzie, created a performance for a gallery space, in which a ‘scientist’ offered visitors the opportunity to be involved in an ‘experiment’, in which they were invited to view an original video while wearing Tobii Pro Glasses 2, a wireless eye-tracking device.[1] The artist employed an assistant, Rachelle Rechichi, to play the role of the ‘scientist’ Svetlana, who gave her single-character performance to each visitor to the installation work. Rechichi is a writer and musician who had received training in the use of Tobii Pro Glasses 2.