These animations were a part of my final project for an undergraduate course 'Media Arts for Just Futures'. These animations explore and expose the invisible and often softer forms of surveillance technology that exist in cities around the world.
Cookie Watchers
There are people out there who can track your every single move online - from the searches you make on google in incognito mode to the exact position of your cursor on the screen. Sometimes - with our consent.
The increasing use of the internet has made online surveillance an increasingly prevalent issue, as personal information and online activity can reveal sensitive information about an individual’s beliefs, behaviors, and associations. Are we aware of what we let out?
Mind the Gait : Gait Recognition
“Chinese authorities have begun deploying a new surveillance tool - gait recognition - a software that uses people’s body shapes and how they walk to identify them, even when their faces are hidden from cameras.”
The artwork symbolizes the loss of privacy in a world where even the way one walks can be used to identify them. The artwork captures the essence of the implementation of this new technology and raises questions about the consequences of such advancements on society and personal freedoms.
Infrared Police
The Los Angeles Police Department arms its service helicopters with thermographic cameras that can sense infrared radiation - allowing them to monitor people through the walls of their own homes - from hundreds of meters above.
How does the use of infrared technology in helicopter patrols for surveillance balance the need for public safety with the protection of individual privacy and civil liberties? How do we strike a balance?
Temperature Guns
What looks like a gun, is held like a gun, is pointed to your head like a gun, and has a trigger that - when pressed - goes BEEP? I don’t have a problem with the temperature gun - it has helped us stay safe during this pandemic. But something about being held at gunpoint feels uncomfortable. I think the scanners at the dining hall are way more likeable beings.
