Nothing: Creating Illusions – ITP Spring Show 2018

Barak Chamo, Tong Wu

A surveilling installation that confronts the audience with the panopticon of digital age

Description

In the age of mass surveillance and commoditized information, we are all, willingly or not, constantly watched. Our devices, online presence, transaction history and even physical presence have become an asset for social network, world governments and corporations to own.

Panopticon is an interactive media sculpture that breaks the illusion of privacy and control of our digital identity and physical presence. Multiple camera rigs monitor users throughout the exhibition space, tracking and capturing their faces, and collecting the facial data to be projected on a semi-torus sculpture. The installation is inspired by the system of control of the same name, which was designed to use the least watchman to monitor the behavior of all inmates, and is aiming to reflect the fact that, when being watched by these “Big Brothers”, we have no where to hide.

Classes

Live Image Processing and Performance, Nothing: Creating Illusions

Brandon Newberg, Kimberly Lin

Partying is a way to not only escape society’s norms but to form oneself, and a broader culture, in opposition to it. Five to Nine shows that this otherworldly place is a state of mind that can arise whenever we choose, even at our nine to five.

Description

In order to expose the illusion of social norms we live with, we aim to create a space within a space, one where a different set of norms exists. Through examining nightlife as a means of challenging our habitus, we are creating an installation that evokes that sense of fantasy and alternative reality that can come at night.

Using a parabolic umbrella, leds, a speaker, and headphones, the project carves out its own universe. All of these elements are intended to be directional and can only be fully absorbed when inside of the space.

Classes

Nothing: Creating Illusions