Panel discussions will explore corporate and commercial uses of surveillance technologies and the privacy issues that such uses raise.
10 am–12 pm: SANCTUM
This session will focus on the interactive art installation
Sanctum, created by UW professors and artists
James Coupe and
Juan Pampin and installed on the Henry's façade. The work employs surveillance systems to generate cinematic narratives with social media content that matches the demographic profiles of passers-by. Through this work, Coupe and Pampin investigate the narrative potential of social media while raising important questions about the conflicting imperatives emerging in our culture as we promote and embrace ever-more-intrusive electronic media, while still cherishing traditional notions of privacy. Join the artists, Henry Director Sylvia Wolf, and legal scholars for a conversation about the important practical and legal questions explored to realize this public work that incorporates surveillance cameras and social media on a university campus.
12–1:30 pm Lunch break
1:30–3:30 pm: Towards Invisibility
Today, artists and citizens, around the world, find themselves seeking respite from the relentless visibility and 24/7 activity of a society accelerated by digital technologies. This panel will include presentations by artists
Adam Harvey and
Julia Fryett who have approached this state of ultra-visibility in different ways. Together with professor and lawyer Sean O'Connor, and moderated by New Museum curator Lauren Cornell, the group will discuss possibilities for contemporary art that respond to the invasive aspects of current technologies from artistic, as well as from political and legal angles.
These sessions are presented as part of
Surveillance & Privacy: Art, Law, and Social Practice, a multi-day symposium (November 20–22) focusing on the response of artists and cultural institutions to issues related to privacy and surveillance. Examining historical attitudes, contemporary perspectives, and prognostications about the future of privacy, the symposium will explore how changes in technology, law, and social practices intermingle and impact public perceptions and cultural behavior. In addition to
project-focused sessions and panel discussions, the symposium will feature evening lectures by
Marc Rotenberg (November 20, Kane Hall) and
Edward A. Shanken (November 21, Henry Auditorium).
CREDITS
The Henry gratefully acknowledges generous support from the Simpson Center for the Humanities for this program.
