Dries Depoorter's Interactive Installation Recharge XL Explores Surveillance and Digital Dependency

Dries Depoorter's interactive artwork Recharge XL (2024–25) is on view at Wintercircus in Ghent, Belgium. The installation requires participants to lie on benches under surveillance cameras that use facial recognition to detect whether their eyes are closed, allowing their phones to charge. The system employs the FocalNet neural network, trained on datasets including ImageNet, which has been criticized for biased classifications. The work critiques surveillance capitalism and digital immersion, referencing earlier projects like Kate Crawford and Trevor Paglen's ImageNet Roulette (2019).