#1002ass2

@klidbury2018    Mackenzie’s incredible work exploring private and surveilled spaces. Concept Statement:

A binary can be defined as a pair of terms holding meanings that oppose each other. However, when looking at how certain binaries have changed over time, and at factors that continue to blur the line between them, a complexity supersedes this simple definition. The public/private binary was one of great interest to me, as in a contemporary society that values and expects constant technological innovations, we have just recently started to realise how this could be affecting our private lives. The Internet, Social media, iPhones, Laptops, Smart TV’s, Google Homes and an immeasurable amount of other devices are used by individuals and installed in their homes. Any device is subject to being hacked, whether that be through the camera, the microphone, or most commonly, through accessing private details and information. This creates a problem, because as long as there is a device being used by the individual or is in the room, we are merely creating an illusion of privacy when we are in our personal and secluded spaces.

If we look at 18th Century Europe, in the wake of the “Coffeehouses”, the separation between an individual’s public and private spheres was very much evident. The public sphere was reserved for free discussion and debate regarding markets, politics, law and trade. On the other hand, the private sphere was reserved for family and home life, where one could be untainted from the influence of government and social institutions, allowing people to remain private and separate from public life. If we fast forward to our current society, this distinction is no longer so clear. Recent events such as Facebook’s failure to keep it’s users’ information secure, hackers accessing cameras on personal devices and iPhones and Google Homes listening to conversations, really accentuate how much the line between public and private has shifted, as the public sphere has become the more dominant of the pair. Even if we own these devices, anonymous third parties could still be able to watch and hear our behaviour, despite us being out of sight of public surveillance, and confined within our own homes.

My video ‘Lens’ attempts to explore the public/private binary by focusing on methods of surveillance, both through traditional security surveillance and a more ambiguous means, through personal devices. The video is not dramatic nor exciting, as it follows the mundane, everyday behaviour that is typical for a teenage boy (my brother), instead, I wanted to create an unsettling tone to the video as it makes the audience question whether they too could be being recorded and watched by an anonymous person, and to spur them into thinking how they’d feel if this breach of their privacy were to occur. I didn’t want to convey the idea that a violation of privacy is only significant if you had something to hide, but rather wanted to encompass the notion that people could be watching and listening to your behaviour without your permission which, in its entirety, is the result of the skewed public/private binary in our society. Usually property security cameras do not have audio input, therefore, in my experimentation I recorded the sounds the iPhone captured whilst being held in the hand, to mimic what would be heard if the conspiracy about phones listening to conversations were true. Using video recordings from my house’s security system, and from multiple devices such as the iPhone, Laptop and SmartTV’s in my home, the audience are not only able to see the individual outside the house, but once inside, it keeps recording, following him as he progresses through his ordinary afternoon activities.

Through conducting practice-led research, I came to the conclusion that a video format would be best to present my concept, as I wanted to closely reflect what would be seen from the hackers point of view, and therefore put the audience in the hackers’ position. The public/private binary in our society has become completely compromised due to the increasing presence of technology and access to the internet in our homes. How are we able to determine when we are completely private, and when we are not? By responding to my chosen question and interrogating this constructed binary, I have uncovered new insights about our private and public spheres, and the significance of them within our society.

A few things came up in class that I wanted to reiterate here.

SUBMISSION DETAILS

We all agreed to these details for the submission of content on our tumblrs this week. I am just putting this down here so we are across it.

A) Content Types: There are 4 kinds of content in this assessment which need to be posted under these specific titles in order to delineate them from other content on your blog. This is important for your assessor to know the difference, otherwise an experiment might be wrongfully considered your final piece. Or worse. 1. Assessment 2 Experiment 2. Assessment 2 Final Work 3. Assessment 2 Concept Statement 4. Assessment 2 Bibliography

B) To be double sure, aggregate all of your content to the same isolated place. To do this, tag all of your posts #assessment2 as they go up. You can then make a page on your blog by following the steps listed below and in the video. This will appear as a page, usually listed in your header, as this very post that I’m writing now will be aggregated to a page on my blog called “1002_Ass_2″ because I’m tagging this post, #1002ass2

See step by step guide here: http://tutorialmaster.tumblr.com/post/18105267257/how-to-make-a-redirect-page-on-your-blog

TIPS ON MOVING FORWARD

Start experimenting now! A lot of you are filling your blogs with development research, which is great, but don’t get stuck in traditional forms of research, looking at other people’s work instead of making work of your own. This assessment has two major components, the documentation of a practice led research, and the final work. The first informs the last and so you need to start your research by conducting your own practical experiments.

Do, don’t deliberate. It’s hard to jump into the unknown but we can all very easily get caught in a trap whereby we are stuck thinking, planning and deliberating doing something as a way of procrastinating doing it. Excuses excuses can take you to the final hour sadly. But truthfully, to make good work, you need time. So the sooner you get starting making, the longer you will have to make this work rigorous and thoughtful and well researched.

Document document document. Magic is in detail and to notice these details, we need to be able to step back and reflect and review, edit and curate. Without documenting your experiments, you will have no material to review, only your memory. So use as many documentation methods as you can get your hands on, and then get another set of hands! Having a friend to help with this process is always useful, maybe you can pair up with someone in the class and return the favour.

What’s your context. All of the research questions are meant to be provocative. But in being provoked to comment on something, don’t loose your own voice. Consider who you are and how you relate to this question. In knowing this, you will hopefully generate something more authentic and genuine, which is not only valuable for you, but also for your audience.

Finally, if you are having a rough time and need support, don’t forget there are a bunch of services available to students. Have a look at my useful page here http://piasadad.tumblr.com/tagged/useful