UNDERLAYERS presents a virtual character that occupies the space between and behind walls.  The character observes the viewer and performs, challenging us to confront our desire to return the gaze and observe the character’s evolution. By this interaction, in which viewers are being watched, UnderLayers elicits reflections on the significance of contemporary issues revolving around auto-surveillance and total-vigilance. This installation, composed of a small video screens inserted within a wall, gives voice to the memory of the physical environment and captures the deep incertitude and urgent feelings of the virtual character. Poetically, it expresses our emotional awareness on many different levels—questioning urban life itself, our own perceptions of everyday interaction, and the roles we all play in our usual environments.