Friendly Proposals for Highly Controlling Environments (2014-2015)
Many public places in Great Britain are being privatised, in the course of which surveillance is put in place as a means of control. The latest hi-tech equipment is able to respond ‘smartly’ to events in the vicinity – lampposts can record sound and switch on whenever they ‘hear’ upheaval, dustbins can follow passing smartphones and register movements in a marked out area. The surveillance systems, however, are designed to be inconspicuous and continually contribute to a sense of false insinuation. In his series FRIENDLY PROPOSALS FOR HIGHLY CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENTS, Max Colson shows the potential of a more playful and therefore less threatening manner of surveillance.
