Keeping an eye on yourself as art

A relatively recent study by mental illness specialists from London's King's College among UK residents has struck the scientific community and the public. It showed that 40% of respondents suffer from some form of paranoia, and every second of them is convinced that he is being watched, and every eighth - that they are being targeted and organized. However, although it is not so easy to get more or less detailed statistics on how much surveillance of citizens in Western countries has intensified over recent years, the fact that it has intensified significantly is an obvious fact. This is partly why paranoidness turns into one of the usual character traits of modern man. After all, as you know, if you are paranoid, this does not mean that you are not being watched.

But a good sense of humor and creativity work wonders. On the specially opened Tracking Transience website, Hasan Elahi, a New York-based artist, has been posting to everyone for almost five years information on his current whereabouts with photographs of the surrounding species for greater credibility. Using the Google Maps API, the GPS module built into the mobile phone, and simple software, Hassan did something similar to the surveillance systems used by the special services in Hollywood films. Wherever he is, a big red arrow follows him on the world map.

Inspiration for such a project fell on Elahi after the incident at one of the American airports. Being a born Bangladeshi, he has a very suspicious appearance (like his and a half billion compatriots), by which in modern America he is often recognized as a terrorist. At that time, the FBI did not limit itself to his detention and full personal search, but established an easy surveillance after him and from time to time called for interrogations using a lie detector. The patriot of his new homeland, Hassan decided to simplify the work of the fighters for the peace of the country. Well, at the same time ensure a constant alibi.

Later, having accumulated a fair amount of photo material, Elahi began to organize exhibitions of art compositions under the collective name The Orwell Project, in which he combined photographs of dinners that he ate on airplanes, metal detectors at airports, conveyor belts, luggage, toilets and other places and objects often found him on the road. However, in the framework of a static exhibition, the artist kills the very idea of ​​constant monitoring of himself and violates the chain of events of the past, because he builds frames not by the time of their creation, but by the principle “as more beautiful”. Although the photos on the site are often not provided with accurate dating and information about the place where they were taken.

Of course, the idea of ​​voluntarily giving out all that is ready for oneself is unlikely to find wide understanding among the public, but the irony in it is very important for a society that is becoming more and more closed and suspicious at the same time.