Surveillance & Society Project #2 IB Arts La Paz Community School

The Art of Surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people for the purpose of influencing, managing, directing, or protecting them. In French literally means "watching over," the term is often used for all forms of observation or monitoring, including dataveillance.

Surveillance is very useful to governments and law enforcement to maintain social control, recognize and monitor threats, and prevent/investigate criminal activity. However, many civil rights and privacy groups have expressed concern that by allowing continual increases in government surveillance of citizens we will end up in a mass surveillance society, with extremely limited, or non-existent political and/or personal freedoms.

What are some examples of surveillance?

is a novel by George Orwell published in The Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public mind control, dictated by a political system that persecutes all individualism and independent thinking as thought crimes.

Brave New World A novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley and published in Set in London of AD 2540 (632 A.F. – "After Ford" – in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, sleep- learning, psychological manipulation, and operant conditioning that combine to profoundly change society.

Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 is a novel by Ray Bradbury published in The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. Think censorship, can you think of an example today?

So….how does this fit into art?

panoptICONS “panoptICONS addresses the fact that we are constantly being watched by surveillance cameras in city centers. The surveillance camera seems to have become a real pest that feeds on our privacy. To represent this, camera birds - city birds with cameras instead of heads - were placed throughout the city center of Utrecht where they feed on the presence of people. In addition, a camera bird in captivity was displayed to show the feeding process and to make the everyday breach of our privacy more personal and tangible.”

Access Marie Sester's work questions the societal perspective of the West and the "New World Order". She creates immersive installations using technologies from the entertainment and surveillance industries. The goal of transparency is visibility, but paradoxically transparency may serve to remove the visibility of these environments and promote secrecy.

(in)security camera The (In)Security Camera is a robotic surveillance camera with advanced computer-vision software that can track, zoom, and follow subjects walking through its field of view. Deploying sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms in use today by the U.S. military and Homeland Security forces, it can assess threat levels in real time and respond accordingly. However, the camera is, in fact, a little insecure. Easily startled by sudden movements, it is shy around strangers and tends to avoid direct eye contact. This reversal of the relationship between the surveillance system and its subjects gives the machine an element of human personality and fallibility that is by turns endearing, tragic, and slightly disturbing.

Surveillance Camera Blocker Ai Weiwei response to surveilance cameras in China (and beyond) In the book ‘do it: the compendium‘ by hans ulrich obrist, the chinese artist ai weiwei proposes a home-made gadget to extend the reach of cans of spraypaint, making it easier to block out surveillance cameras.

No Safe Zones

surveillance-camera-blocker/

Relax, I’m not asking you to get tech-savvy for this project – just CREATIVE! What’s your response to Surveillance and Society?

Let the Brainstorm begin!