echelon: who is watching you?
curated by Miguel Cortez
echelon: who is watching you?
curated by Miguel Cortez
Opening Friday August 3 from 6pm-10pm
August 3 - September 1, 2007
"One cannot use spies without sagacity and knowledge, one cannot use spies without humanity and justice" - Sun Tzu
"It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face… was itself a punishable offense."
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5
US surveillance began centuries ago with the concept of slave passes, which allowed slave-owners to monitor and control the mobility of their "chattel." Yet the slave pass system was sometimes subverted by the rare slaves who could write, such as Frederick Douglass. These literate slaves could create their own passes and might thus gain freedom for themselves and other slaves. Trafficking in passes and "free papers" soon became a burgeoning business, one that the slave system grappled with for nearly two centuries.
From slaves, the history of surveillance next turns to the infamous Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which restricted Chinese immigration to the United States. All Chinese laborers were forced to register with the government and subject themselves to being photographed and fingerprinted. A whole apparatus of surveillance was created.
In the 1920s, government surveillance spread to political radicals, especially workers trying to organize union activity. J. Edgar Hoover headed this government surveillance unit which would later become the FBI. As the 20th century advanced, computer technology proved a powerful enhancement to the regime of surveillance. This allowed most devices and databases to be monitored and evaluated, including automobiles, Your car can be tracked by GPS, and your spending habits can be gleaned from accessing your credit card records. Internet and email are monitored in the workplace and cameras are just about everywhere.
For this show artists will explore the history of surveillance and how this affects us at this present time. They will in turn create work dealing with this theme which will include 2D work, installation, and new media.
ARTISTS PARTICIPATING:
Anni Holm
Drew Browning and Annette Barbier
Dustin Klare
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa
Finishing School
Gretel Garcia s
Ian Simmons
Noelle Mason
Patrick Lichty
Tom Sibley
T.W. Li
Polvo, www.polvo.org
1458 W. 18th St., 1R Chicago, IL 60608
773.344.1940
info@polvo.org
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Wool rug made in Mexico by José Antonio Flores and Jonathan Samaniego in exchange for the amount of money it would cost a family of four to be illegally transported across the US/Mex border, ASTER(Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) image taken by NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
"This May 19, 2000 sub-scene of the US-Mexico border in California, covers an area of 24 by 30 km. The combination of visible and near infrared bands displays vegetation in red. The border town of Mexicali-Calexico spans the border in the middle of the image; El Centro, California is in the upper left. The dramatic difference in land use patterns between the US and Mexico is highlighted by the lush, regularly gridded agricultural fields of the US, and the more barren fields of Mexico. The Imperial Valley of California is one of the major fruit and vegetable producers for the US, watered by canals fed from the Colorado River" --http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery-detail.asp?name=USMexico
Noelle Mason
200
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Search Terms
Media Interactive computer installation
unreal-estates (Drew Browning, Annette Barbier)
2006
Search Terms – unreal-estates (Drew Browning, Annette Barbier)
It is well known that Chicago’s loop is one of the most heavily surveilled areas in the world. Also common knowledge is US government agencies’ unhealthy interest in our reading habits. Interactive installation “Search Terms” critiques this ubiquitous surveillance, tracking visitors’ movements as they explore “dangerous” and “suspicious” book listings and surreptitious views of gallery visitors.
From the American Library Association website:
ABFFE Files Freedom of Information Request with Justice Dept. (August 21, 2002)
“The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), the bookseller’s voice in the fight against censorship, today filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act in an attempt to learn how many subpoenas have been issued to bookstores, libraries and newspapers under the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act. The Justice Department has refused to make this information public despite a request by the House Judiciary Committee. ‘The PATRIOT Act gives the Justice Department the power to investigate the reading habits of American citizens,’ ABFFE President Chris Finan said. ‘We want to make sure this power isn’t abused.’”
A chill in the library (July 23, 2002)
“Under the USA-Patriot Act, passed by Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, librarians have been made unwitting partners in the FBI’s search for potential terrorists. Any records a library might retain on a patron’s reading choices or Internet use are now retrievable by federal law enforcement with an easily obtainable court order. Librarians, traditionally defenders of intellectual freedom, are being pressed to become extensions of law enforcement, and many are balking at the new job description.”
FBI Begins Visiting Libraries
“The FBI is visiting libraries nationwide and checking the reading records of people it suspects of having ties to terrorists or plotting an attack, library officials say.”
FBI Checks Out Library Record of Terrorist Suspects
“[T]he University of Illinois conducted a survey of 1,020 public libraries in January and February and found that 85 libraries had been asked by federal or local law enforcement officers for information about patrons related to Sept. 11, said Ed Lakner, assistant director of research at the school’s Library Research Center.”
FBI is Searching Library Records for Terror Leads
“The process by which the FBI gains access to library records is quick and mostly secret under the Patriot Act.”
Architecture of the NSA
Live video capture/DVD
Single Channel Video
Patrick Lichty
2007
Getting de Menezes
motion picture, 14 minutes
by T.W. Li
Getting de Menezes is a short movie that recreates the last minutes of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent man shot by police in a London tube station. The camera takes the position of the authorities who watch, pursue, and eventually kill this man. From Jean's home on Tulse Hill, south London, the audience follows an actor playing the role of the unwitting worker. We follow him to the bus stop, board the number 2, and travel through Brixton. Into the Stockwell Station, and down to the northbound train, we move in to effect what authorities referred to as a "full stop". Before a tussle of scrambled camera work, we look into his eyes. In seconds he sprawls, fully stopped, except for the flow of his blood onto the floor.
In recent years the world has seen an increase in measures to tighten security. It is my belief that this is not solely due to the acts of terrorism in several countries, but can also be attributed to an increase in human population and consumerism. Even 100 years ago, our world population and societal make-up looked quite different than today. It was a time of the rising industrial economy, a time before we knew the impact of world wars, and a time when it was an embarrassment to buy on credit (a tenet that seems forgotten today-- especially in the U.S.)
Without having a credit card of my own, I faced a challenge as an immigrant to the U.S. without a credit history. The problem was not finding a job, opening a bank account, or finding an apartment to rent, I found that when I tried to get a cell phone and when my husband and I applied for our mortgage, I ran into a wall. I was surprised to find that my lack of dependence on credit would actually serve as a detriment to the perception of my fiscal responsibility.
Friends and colleagues encouraged me to apply for a credit card to establish a consistent payment history. Ironically, I was denied by the credit card company due to my non-existent credit history. I have opted instead for a debit credit card through the bank, which rewards "credit" purchases with Frequent Flier miles. My debit card, along with other credit and membership cards are all a part of the new world of electronic currency that is marketed as a convenient way to spend. With the efficiency of these cards also comes the collection of data and in time a profile of the spending habits of the owner emerges. This data is admittedly used by credit card companies as a commodity in the marketing industry and in a post 9/11 world, where more than 8 million people per year have their identities stolen, the U.S. government has demonstrated an increased interest in using this information to crack down on crime with the Patriot Act. I find it disturbing that others have full access to these records and that this information can be used to create a profile of an individual.
Since January 1, 2006, I have acted as my own "spy" compiling my electronic records and receipts in an attempt to recreate my spending profile. Travel patterns, medical expenses, mortgage payments, direct deposits and everyday purchases create a nexus of clues into a person's private life. This information can be analyzed and categorized and might reveal a whole lot more of myself than I would prefer to project or possibly even realize. For “echelon: who is watching you?” I have compiled a video installation, documenting my whereabouts according to my debit card from 01.01.06 – 12.31.06.
Has the draw of frequent flier miles, time efficiency, simplicity, bonus points, membership rewards and shorter waiting times lured us to exchange our privacy for convenience? I have found that although time is precious and rewards are desirable, exercising caution when purchasing electronically might be more rewarding unto it self that it appears.
Anni Holm, December 31, 2006.