Stan’s CafeUltraopticon

Ships are moving on the high sea and nudging into dock. Planes are crossing time zones. Foreign exchanges and futures markets are shifting. Early morning workers are scuttling from New Street Station. Weather fronts are moving in. Social media threads are spinning. Situated in the Rotunda, Ultraopticon is observing, reporting, recording … Beginning Friday 19 January 2024, at 6pm, Ultraopticon finds Stan’s Cafe nestled high above Birmingham’s streets for a unique one-off 24 hour performance. From an exclusive vantage point in the city’s iconic Rotunda, unnamed agents – who, judging by the mess, appear to have been holed up in the apartment for some time – gaze out across the skyline and down into the streets below. Reporting on the world around them, their descriptions and observations are relayed in multiple languages, including Lithuanian, Bengali, Spanish and English. Throughout the unbroken performance, visitors are invited to join this anonymous team of observers – both in-person and online – to see what they see, to look out with their telescopes and digital devices, to experience the city like they’ve never experienced it before. Ultraopticon is watching all.This performance takes place at the Rotunda, Moor Street, Birmingham B5 4BL