Mona Lisa Override

An Interactive Public Art Installation by Cam Smith

Cam Smith is a Seattle-based new media artist who has created an immersive, interactive artwork that is both engaging and unsettling while raising questions about the role of surveillance technology in society. Mona Lisa Override will be installed October 16 in the BAM Forum window facing public foot traffic on Bellevue Way. The installation is open ended and does not currently have a closing date.

“Deepfake technology isn't just flooding the internet, it's escaping into the real world. Mona Lisa Override is a video portrait project that forces viewers to confront this depressing reality head-on.

I took a camera, hooked it up to a computer, and wrote some software to swap your face with the Mona Lisa. If a random artist with a cheap computer can hijack the world's most famous portrait in real time, what are tech corporations capable of doing with your data?

I want people to reflect on the new reality of instant and convincing fakeness and rethink who we trust, what we buy, and which corporations we support.”

— Cam Smith, artist

Follow Cam Smith on Instagram: @camoverride

Stay tuned for Artist Q+A on BAM Instagram: @bellevueartsmuseum