Dear David, It's A Spoilt World

Curated by The Second-Guess on the occasion of Art on Tezos: Berlin, 6–9 November 2025.

Dear David by OONA is a virtual ‘love letter’ built entirely from CCTV footage of the artist in the London Underground, framing the body as an object tracked by state surveillance systems. It is addressed to David, a Transport for London employee of 29 years, who processes public requests for CCTV access, a right available to anyone within 14 days of their capture.

Each time OONA performed in the Underground, she requested the corresponding CCTV footage, exchanging emails with David. This correspondence allowed the artist to build a relationship with someone who also operates under a form of public anonymity, not entirely dissimilar to her own artistic anonymity.

To retrieve her footage, OONA documented what she was wearing and her exact movements, platforms, and carriages with precision. After receiving OONA’s personal information and the necessary paperwork, David used various recognition software to track her throughout the stations, blurring the identities of others. In this surveillance ‘love letter,’ OONA reaches through the technology to find and adore the human on the other side.

Chapters 3 and 4 of Dear David present two corresponding videos from different perspectives. Part 3, Dear David, I’m a Spoilt Girl, and Part 4, Dear David, It’s a Spoilt World, further explore the interplay between surveillance, intimacy, and human connection, expanding the poetic and performative possibilities of OONA’s visibility and voice within a system designed to anonymize.