Tag Archives: Panopticon

Seeing things in a different light…

It’s been a while, and Jeremy is not back yet. Panopticam has probably gone for good…

However, just when I was about to start packing to return to Brazil, I received a nice message from someone who visited the blog recently, but also the news (via the Urban Lab) about a new computer game by the Bentham Project, called Panopticon Pandemonium. So, I thought it was worthy a post!

The game recreates Bentham’s prison model, the panopticon, and invites players to try the role of the prison’s governor or guard’s supervisor in keeping prisoners contained and behaving nicely, as well as maintaining the prison in order and financially healthy. Players are said to be guided by Jeremy “himself” who will give advices based on his very writings and thoughts. Here is what they say about the game:

“Based in large part on Bentham’s published works, and unpublished manuscripts being explored by volunteers for UCL’s award-winning Transcribe Bentham initiative, Panopticon Pandemonium will provide players with fresh insights into one of the most controversial aspects of Bentham’s thought”

And I will finish this brief (and probably last) post on this experimental project with the kind message I received from Chris, a mysterious visitor. In the end, I have similar feelings when I look back and think about what was supposed to be only a one-day joke. So, thanks to Chris, all other visitors who sent and didn’t send messages, and also thanks to Jeremy and the Urban Lab!

“Thanks for helping me to see things in a different light” (Chris)

Perhaps Panopticon Pandemonium’s players will also see things differently when they look into “Jeremy’s eyes” seeking advice to control their prisoners…

Panopticon Pandemonium

Panopticon Pandemonium

While some have their eyes open, it seems Jeremy shut his own…

This is the first time it happens since I started “interacting” with Bentham’s Auto-Icon. When I arrived today to deliver the message, the glass case doors were shut and there was no signs indicating the reasons.

Luckily, Panopticam’s webcam stands outside, on the top of the case. So, although Jeremy’s eyes were shut by the closed doors, his cyborg electronic eyes were fully operational!

Jeremy Bentham's glass case with shut doors

Jeremy Bentham’s glass case with shut doors

China keeps its eyes wide open upon Tibetans

Today’s message was based on a fresh report by Humans Rights Watch on China’s Tibet Surveillance Programme, named by the Chinese authorities “Benefit the Masses”, which has been indefinitely extended. The report was flagged up on twitter by Malavika Jayaram from Harvard University.

This is part of a long term strategy to use infiltrated “spies” (“village-based cadre teams”) in the villages of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and minimize the chances of opposition to the Chinese influence in the region.

According to the report, “The official slogan used to describe the objective of the village-based teams is ‘all villages become fortresses, and everyone is a watchman.'”

Day 59: China keeps its eyes wide open upon Tibetans [thanks to M.J.]

Day 59: China keeps its eyes wide open upon Tibetans
[thanks to M.J.]

CCTV is the message! (adapted from McLuhan)

Well, it seems poor Jeremy lost his “visual memory” for good. I can’t rely on the timelapse anymore, so I will try to keep coming the minute past the hour from now on…

Today’s message was an adapted version of the famous provocation by Marshal McLuhan, “the medium is the message”. I got this idea while reading the very interesting paper “‘The footage is decisive’: Applying the thinking of Marshall McLuhan to CCTV and police misconduct” by Richard Evans in the journal Surveillance & Society.

And I was joined again by my mysterious friends with Asian hats…

Day 58: CCTV is the message! (adapted from McLuhan)

Day 58: CCTV is the message! (adapted from McLuhan)

Jeremy, “look up to the sky and see”… Drones!

With this, I thought of making a link to the nice work being carried out by some members of LAVITS (Latin American Network of Surveillance, Technology and Society Studies) in the DroneHackademy, a project led by Fernanda Bruno and Pablo de Soto.

With the sudden mushrooming of these unmanned flying machines around the world, mainly meant for military actions (according to Rudolph Herzog, currently in the US, there is almost 1 drone for every 3 manned military aircraft), it’s good to see some people using it on the other way around, somehow “subverting” its surveillance/monitoring/military nature. According to their own definition, DroneHackademy:

“is a prototype of a hacktivist school, citizen science laboratory and critical theory platform for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a social technology.”

Day 57: Jeremy, "look up to the sky and see"... Drones!

Day 57: Jeremy, “look up to the sky and see”… Drones!

“Every grade of society has its appropriate and peculiar spies” (Charles Dickens)

Another day (without timelapse feed), another citation to Lapham’s Quarterly issue on “Spies”, and a funny section called “conversations” with extracts by Charles Dickens and Edward Snowden.

Day 56: "Every grade of society has its appropriate and peculiar spies" (Charles Dickens)

Day 56: “Every grade of society has its appropriate and peculiar spies” (Charles Dickens)

“If you see something, say something” (F.B.I.)… can’t hear you Jeremy!

Another message based on Lapham’s Quarterly issue on “Spies”, this time from an ironic post on “instruction from the F.B.I.” I got ironic too!

This time I was surprised by the presence of two lovely young “collaborators”, holding a picture of me. They have been following this project and guessed the time I would appear with the message. Believe me, this was not previously arranged or staged. How cool is that?!

I wonder where did they get those hats from…

Day 55: "If you see something, say something" (F.B.I.)... can't hear you Jeremy!

Day 55: “If you see something, say something” (F.B.I.)… can’t hear you Jeremy!

“A person watched is a person transformed” (Lyan S. Parramore)

Inspiration today came from an interesting article by Lynn Stuart Parramore on the Lapham’s Quarterly, a suggestion posted on twitter by David Murakami Wood…

In her text, Parramore discusses how new labour biometric tracking resembles old forms of workplace surveillance from the dawn of capitalism. He cites Jeremy Bentham (and his influential brother, Samuel Bentham) to show how the panopticon had an impact on the creation and development of Taylorism as an instrument for productivism through a better shaped and “optimised” labour force (physically and mentally). New surveillance and control bionic technologies are meant to make workers, as Parramore titles her article, “happy all the time”, and obviously more productive!

Day 54: "A person watched is a person transformed" (Lyan S. Paramore) [thanks to D.M.W.]

Day 54: “A person watched is a person transformed” (Lyan S. Paramore)
[thanks to D.M.W.]

How much of your rights are you ready to give in for security?

Today’s message was inspired by a recent article on The Guardian about 2015 Paris attacks, questioning the balance between security/surveillance and what they called “France’s love of liberté and fraternity”.

Indeed, I think authorities and ordinary citizens should be more open to debate how much of our rights to privacy and anonymity we are prepared to compromise for an alleged safer world. This is exactly what organisations such as Privacy International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have been doing for years…

Day 52: How much of your rights are you ready to give in for security?

Day 52: How much of your rights are you ready to give in for security?

I know, Jeremy. Watching can be a very tedious job!

Speaking of which, another reference to the same paper I mentioned a couple of posts ago, but this time about the tedious job of watchers (security personnel) in a CCTV control room. This was also reported in works by Gavin Smith here, and here.

Anyway, I’m back, happy 2016… and let not this be a tedious year!

Day 51: I know, Jeremy. Watching can be a very tedious job!

Day 51: I know, Jeremy. Watching can be a very tedious job!

Being watched while watching the watcher…

This is getting very complicated. Just when I thought there was nothing else to post here in 2015 (yes, I’ll take a break until January 4th, since the university will be closed and Jeremy will be unaccessible), I received the image below, adding more confusion to the whole watching the watchers thing (see here for more on this).

So, I guess I was being watched while I was watching Jeremy, watching me, watching him…

Merry Christmas and happy new year. “See” you in 2016, Jeremy!

Day 50: Being watched... [thanks to A.C.]

Day 50: Being watched…
[thanks to A.C.]