Abstract
Abstract
“Surveillance is permanent in its effects even if its discontinuous in its action.” – Michael Foucault
In a city like Johannesburg – characterised by surveillance capitalism; with the recent flooding and installation of about 15,000 CCTV cameras, an everyday journey in the society by default becomes an apparatus for very great control. The insertion of a tool of the universal architecture of behaviour restriction threatens human nature.
As a result, numerous problems such as extreme levels of public fear, violence and insecurity on the streets of real magnitude emanate, contributing to the unending search for safety, freedom and privacy and the tension between transparency and accountability simultaneously.
How much security is too much?. What kind of power relations are created as a result of these decisions? What are the spatial gains or implications? Does this make public officials more accountable? What checks and balances can be put in place with respect to mass surveillance?
My work focused mainly on the subject of political accountability, democracy, analogue and digital means of surveillance and the consequences of the forms of control present in the city of Johannesburg. It took the form of ethnographic drawings, digital collages (mimicking hand-made collages) and forensic immersive investigations with a bit of reference to technology. I also engaged in research and fieldwork at strategic locations (virtual and real-life) to produce a series of pictorial lexicons and forensic drawings concurrently outlining analytical techniques adopted and developed with supporting drawings.
My study aimed to challenge such interlocutors while becoming a bridge between citizens and public officials – not by dismantling the system but by regimenting, recalibrating and reorganising. Using social institutional imaginaries or architectural strategies as a new form of control, balance and refinement could be created.
I am convinced it is of dire importance to the architecture discipline, as it brings to limelight queries that are mostly ignored or left unanswered due to its sensitivity and political nature.
“Surveillance is permanent in its effects even if its discontinuous in its action.” – Michael Foucault
In a city like Johannesburg – characterised by surveillance capitalism; with the recent flooding and installation of about 15,000 CCTV cameras, an everyday journey in the society by default becomes an apparatus for very great control. The insertion of a tool of the universal architecture of behaviour restriction threatens human nature.
As a result, numerous problems such as extreme levels of public fear, violence and insecurity on the streets of real magnitude emanate, contributing to the unending search for safety, freedom and privacy and the tension between transparency and accountability simultaneously.
How much security is too much?. What kind of power relations are created as a result of these decisions? What are the spatial gains or implications? Does this make public officials more accountable? What checks and balances can be put in place with respect to mass surveillance?
My work focused mainly on the subject of political accountability, democracy, analogue and digital means of surveillance and the consequences of the forms of control present in the city of Johannesburg. It took the form of ethnographic drawings, digital collages (mimicking hand-made collages) and forensic immersive investigations with a bit of reference to technology. I also engaged in research and fieldwork at strategic locations (virtual and real-life) to produce a series of pictorial lexicons and forensic drawings concurrently outlining analytical techniques adopted and developed with supporting drawings.
My study aimed to challenge such interlocutors while becoming a bridge between citizens and public officials – not by dismantling the system but by regimenting, recalibrating and reorganising. Using social institutional imaginaries or architectural strategies as a new form of control, balance and refinement could be created.
I am convinced it is of dire importance to the architecture discipline, as it brings to limelight queries that are mostly ignored or left unanswered due to its sensitivity and political nature.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Just Spatial Design ZA |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |