Project-focused sessions and Panel discussions

These sessions as part of Surveillance & Privacy: Art, Law, and Social Practice, a multi-day symposium (November 20-22) focusing on the response of artists and cultural institutions to issues related to privacy and surveillance. Examining historical attitudes, contemporary perspectives, and prognostications about the future of privacy, the symposium will explore how changes in technology, law, and social practices intermingle and impact public perceptions and cultural behavior.

10AM-12PM: SANCTUM
This session will focus on the interactive art installation Sanctum,created by UW professors and artists James Coupe and Juan Pampin and installed on the Henry Art Gallery’s façade. The work employs surveillance systems to generate cinematic narratives with social media content that matches the demographic profiles of passers-by. Through this work, Coupe and Pampin investigate the narrative potential of social media while raising important questions about the conflicting imperatives emerging in our culture as we promote and embrace ever-more-intrusive electronic media, while still cherishing traditional notions of privacy. Join the artists, Henry Director Sylvia Wolf, and legal scholars for a conversation about the important practical and legal questions explored to realize this public work that incorporates surveillance cameras and social media on a university campus.

12-1:30PM: Lunch break

1:30-3:30PM: Towards Invisibility
Today, artists and citizens, around the world, find themselves seeking respite from the relentless visibility and 24/7 activity of a society accelerated by digital technologies. This panel will include presentations by artists, Adam Harvey and Holly Herndon, who have approached this state of ultra-visibility in different ways: Harvey, through the creation of surveillance-blocking clothing and strategic accessories; and, Herndon through the creation of electronic compositions out of the sounds and video produced through her own self-surveillance. Together with professor and lawyer Sean O'Connor, and moderated by New Museum curator Lauren Cornell, the group will discuss possibilities for contemporary art that respond to the invasive aspects of current technologies from artistic, as well as from political and legal angles.