[Moshe]

http://www.visitordesign.com/shelflife/?p=25

When the Sonic Youth studio still sat hovering in the chasm of Echo Canyon and the band collectively exploited it as a well-worn sonic workshop, I was there at least a couple of times a week filming.
A lot of that material will be shown at the Sensational Fix exhibition as it tours museums peppered about the globe starting in France in June. I’m actually still editing a couple of new films for that. I’ll premiere them here when they’re ready.
One of my favorite pieces–an utterly failed exercise in improvisation and cogent filmmaking…and stupid as sin–is ECHOSCAM. We used to have this 24/7 webcam on in the studio. It was accessible from the homepage of sonicyouth.com and people watched it compulsively. It was this creepy stalker destination that was A-OK to frequent–so frequented, it was.
One afternoon, Thurston was working on some overdubs with Jim and Aaron. While I was shooting that, I got to thinking about stalking, obsession and the stereotypical Sonic Youth fan. Somehow that train of thought detoured and I started pondering petty theft and wondering how frequently criminals used the internet for research. Would engaging in online communities to research a heist leave the well-read criminal touched by any sort of fandom or tainted by residual trivia–to be mnemonically unleashed when presented with the appropriate stimulation?
I asked Thurston to bring a ski mask to the studio the following day. I’d bring two flashlights. “What’s my motivation?” Thurston asked, curiously. “You saw the place on the EchoCam. You’re a criminal, but you also kind of get the fan thing. We break in thru the fire escape and case the place. We’re pretty clueless. We comment on shit that we see, but the comments are absurd. Before we get to steal anything, Jim chases us out.” As evidenced by the video, neither staying in character nor any sort of planning were part of either of our motivation. Also, I can’t act–let alone act and film simultaneously.

[o'connor]

i remember that video, it was funny shit. isn't it still up in the vids section?

[Moshe]

you van see it in the link i posted:

http://www.visitordesign.com/shelflife/?p=25

[Bal]

i have 60 megs of echocam pics on my old computer (and believe me thats a lot cause those pics are so small)
whenever i was working i kept checkin the cam just out of boredom
and after a while i started collecting these pics
im not some crazy weirdo stalker fan, my work made me do this haha
i was thinking about starting a sonic voyeur site where id put up all these pics..
dunno if it will ever happen but they could deff use those pics haha
(put back the echocam guys! i want to keep on stalking!)

[charles eugene]

yes!! what happened to that thing? whenever i saw someone i was overwhelmed with joy and interest haha those were good times (not in a stalker freak way)

[PAULYBEE2656]

furry guitarrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

[o'connor]

i liek those SY dolls/action figures they got from a fan. they were pretty neat, too bad they lost the lee one though lol.

come back echo cam. I got a folder somewhere on my mac too, where are some highlight echoscam pics. one of the most rocking was the little hamster with the drumsticks