K&K. Kultur og Klasse · Nr. 110 · Årgang 2010 - Aarhus University ...

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Abstracts
co-produce exactly those versions of the reality they gaze upon. In accordance with Bruno
Latour’s concept ‘oligopticon’, the artefact points out that the surveillor holds a very precise
— yet limited and fragile — view whose only way of seing anything meaningful is by being
aggregated to a larger composition.
The concept of the oligopticon questions generalized notions of surveillance such as
‘Big Brother’ and the panopticon, and the dystopian angst and utopian thrills, that such
notions often evoke. Directly as well as indirectly, those models of surveillance are widely
referred to in both surveillance studies and in public discussions of surveillance and as such
they have become ‘ideal models’, against which surveillance situations are often compared.
In contrast, this paper argues with Latour and Magid that such models are unable to help us
grasp the ‘core’ of surveillance precisely because they claim that there is such a core, wheras
all there is in fact are particular compositions of surveillance with each their specific effects.
The concept of oligopticon offers, on the other hand, a sensitivity towards the possibility of
resisting preconceived notions of what surveillance is supposedly about. And even though
it can by no means be understood as an alternate general model of surveillance, the concept
makes it possible to conduct a richer enquiry into the particular composition of surveillance
phenomena.
PETER LAURITSEN:
FROM BIG BROTHER TO TOILET BOWLS AND
MECHANICAL PROSTHESES: ART AS RESOURCE
FOR STUDYING SURVEILLANCE
For years the concepts of Big Brother and panopticon have dominated the way surveillance
is perceived in public debate as well as academic research. Taken together these two
concepts substantiate an understanding of surveillance as related to situations of total visibility.
Nowhere can citizens escape the all-encompassing gaze of the surveyor. Furthermore
surveillance is understood as an automatic process carried from a centre, which is so powerful
that resistance is hopeless.
Within the field of surveillance studies it has been acknowledged however that this
understanding is too narrow and limited, and a search for novel theories and concepts of
surveillance has begun.
This article argues that contemporary art contains resources that enable an understanding
of surveillance as a multifaceted phenomenon. This point is illustrated by analysing
Hasan Elahi’s “Tracking Transience: The Big Brother Project” as well as various attempts by
Stelarc to upgrade the human body. In sum these artists subvert and extend the concept of
surveillance. For example Elahi shows how it is possible for the surveyed to distort the vision
of Big Brother and take control over the surveillance situation. In a somewhat different way
Stelarc constructs experiments in which the body is linked to surveillance tech nology, but
this is done in order to share information and power and with the intent of empowering
the body. Surveillance tech nologies are thus not seen as part of a totalitarian regime, but as
a possibility for upgrading the body to fit a complex environment.
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