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PANOPTICON
Tuesday 19th April 2011 – Friday 22nd April 2011 , 10:00am to 5:00pm
The exhibition displays different positions and interpretations of four international artists (Germany, Austria, UK) exploring current concepts of observation.
“The Panopticon is a machine for dissociating the see / being seen dyad: in the peripheric
ring, one is totally seen, without ever seeing; in the central tower, one sees everything without
ever being seen.” Michel Foucault
….If cameras really add to security of the individual and was where the oppressive regime begins… just what is the right balance between freedom and safety?….
Originally an 18th century concept proposed by philosopher and theorist Jeremy Bentham, a Panopticon allows one conducting surveillance over all inmates of an institution to create a sense of instability and uncertainty in those being discreetly observed. Initially, this was utilized as a mechanism of control but in recent times the paradigm has shifted, since control mechanisms have also become a tool for evoking a sense of safety and security.
Billy-Paul Rousseau’s soundscape ‘Hospital’ creates an uncomfortable atmosphere, placing the audience into a bygone world of Victorian cruelty. Stale sounds reminiscent of electrical and mechanical experiments linger long in the void of an empty room, leaving only a residual trace in the imagination.
Nicole Prutsch’s video installation ’Mirror Stage’, a series of performances on London buses, references Jaques Lacan’s theory of the “Gaze”, in a work that exaggerates the psychological effect of the loss of autonomy, through the realization that to be objectively visible causes one to act differently.
Patrick Rowan’s video ‘Observance’ places the viewer in front of two screens that may be a pair of eyes observing us. At the same time they are windows through which we look back to an otherworldly place and time at the ghostly figure of a young man. As we watch he appears unaware of our presence. This restless spirit seems to be caught between life and death.
Jakob Malek’s installation monitors and visualizes the sonic presence of an audience and seeks to show it as a continuous flow of data being recorded and archived
