Lucy Stevens plays with the experimental nature of the audience within the exhibition space. In her video installation Spy Hole the artist creates a narrative between the ‘watcher’ and the ‘watched’, by playing video cameras and monitors in different parts of the exhibition space. Stevens is concerned with the fear and pleasure associated with the voyeur and the escapist.

Alexandria Clark has written an essay to accompany the exhibition, I have selected a few paragraphs, which I feel describes the ideas surrounding the Spy Hole installation.

Fear and pleasure are both actively present in the notion of watching and being watched. With our futuristic outlook and the progression of technology, the ideas of Big Brother all around, CCTV cameras and monitors taking note of our every move develop questions and queries on the truth of what we are shown and how much we are being restrained, circumscribed and spied upon.

The notion of Big Brother is accepted now, even if it is reluctantly. But when it comes to watching with our own eyes, without meditation, this tends to be considered as too much: too invasive. There is a thin line between innocent observation and intrusive voyeurism. The boundaries are supposedly set in place, yet we know they are different for everyone.