Big Brother in the Bathroom

You've heard of those paranoid schizophrenics who think they're always being filmed? I think it's called the Truman Show complex or something... Well, I pray that no one with that disorder ever needs to pee while visiting Bonnierskonsthall (Bonnier's art exhibition hall in Stockholm).

The photo above is the monitor that displays footage from a closed-circuit camera mounted inside the toilet. So the unlucky bathroom visitor gets to watch his bum descending onto the seat, and then whatever else happens next.

The installation has done exactly what the artist intended, which is to stir up a lot of ruckus about the right to privacy, and what if the footage is being recorded or sent to an alternate monitor somewhere that others can see, etc. In fact, Stockholm's daily newspaper reportedly published a story deriding it as tasteless and invasive.

I wouldn't exactly stand in line for that bathroom, but I personally think it's kind of cool that the Bonnier family is willing to display such subversive art. Bonnierskonsthall is a pretty cool place, actually, with rotating collections that lean toward young, edgy, experimental art—very much along the lines of P.S. 1 in New York City.

What do you think of the potty cam?