Surveillance

Art about watching and being watched: hidden cameras, tracking, security systems, data and the power of those who observe.

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About

Watching and being watched has become a central theme as cameras, databases and algorithms spread through daily life. The idea has an architectural ancestor in Jeremy Bentham's panopticon, a prison design of the 1790s in which a single guard could observe every cell. Artists began to play both roles in the late 1960s: Vito Acconci trailed strangers through New York streets for Following Piece (1969), and Sophie Calle arranged for a private detective to shadow her and report on her day in The Shadow (1981).

Later work confronts state and corporate systems. Julia Scher has built installations from security monitors since the late 1980s, and in Evidence Locker (2004) Jill Magid directed Liverpool's CCTV operators to film her, then retrieved the footage through official request forms. Zach Blas's Facial Weaponization Suite (2011–14) produced amorphous masks designed to defeat face-recognition software.