In the words of Marshall McLuhan, “Technology is just not a happenstance and not just something that got there when nobody was noticing and so, we are responsible for our technologies and the effects of our technologies, as we are responsible for tidying up our grammar.”
I have created my series Absence of Privacy because I believe everyone has a right to privacy. Likewise, I believe that most unscripted moments in life, should remain unscripted and free from a world of webcams.
To show the extent to which webcams are invading our lives, I have painted eleven works in oil on canvas. The figure is portrayed in a setting as if they are being monitored by a surveillance camera. My interest in this topic originated when I constructed a still-life oil painting of a webcam for my Contemporary Painting class in 2011. It was agitating to see a webcam up-close staring at me. It felt eerie and overpowering. For this reason, I set off to scan the multitude of cameras that were gawking at me all day long. Prior to this, I had not given this much attention. After reading articles about privacy abuses, I felt compelled to paint them.
First, I begin with the process of sifting through online publications for privacy violations. Research is an integral element of visualizing and developing the concepts I wish to illustrate. After I have some plan of action, I will then take photographs. When I have a workable image, I will alter it with data glitches and pixelizations. The computer errors unite throughout the image to give birth to new fragmented shapes
My oil on canvas paintings varies in sizes from medium to large. I prefer to experiment with color to accentuate the mood in my series. To demonstrate the chilling effects of technology, I use a consistent blue hue in my artworks. The project involves depicting my husband and my oldest daughter in a realistic manner while implementing data errors. As an example of webcam hacking, I painted You Didn‘t Even Know I Hacked Into Your Computer. In this painting, the male model is sitting alone at his dining room table, reading a book. He is not aware that someone has hijacked the video camera on his computer and is watching him. In the Women’s Bathroom Surveillance, we are viewing a woman spied on while she washes her hands. In the painting titled Neighbor’s Webcam #1, the woman is standing outside on her front porch, serenely reading her mail. She is not cognizant of being viewed on the neighbor’s security camera.
Oil paints and brushes give me the ability to communicate the invasion of privacy. Throughout my figurative work, I pose models as if they were under surveillance via recording devices. I make use of glitches and pixels to depict distorted signals of data.
Digital technology is an important achievement in our generation. While making life better through communication and safeguarded in unthinkable ways, the privacy we formerly embraced is rapidly disappearing. Thus, my paintings strive to present these matters to the fore. Perhaps then, we as a society, can impart careful thought as to how to manage these obstacles.
I have created my series Absence of Privacy because I believe everyone has a right to privacy. Likewise, I believe that most unscripted moments in life, should remain unscripted and free from a world of webcams.
To show the extent to which webcams are invading our lives, I have painted eleven works in oil on canvas. The figure is portrayed in a setting as if they are being monitored by a surveillance camera. My interest in this topic originated when I constructed a still-life oil painting of a webcam for my Contemporary Painting class in 2011. It was agitating to see a webcam up-close staring at me. It felt eerie and overpowering. For this reason, I set off to scan the multitude of cameras that were gawking at me all day long. Prior to this, I had not given this much attention. After reading articles about privacy abuses, I felt compelled to paint them.
First, I begin with the process of sifting through online publications for privacy violations. Research is an integral element of visualizing and developing the concepts I wish to illustrate. After I have some plan of action, I will then take photographs. When I have a workable image, I will alter it with data glitches and pixelizations. The computer errors unite throughout the image to give birth to new fragmented shapes
My oil on canvas paintings varies in sizes from medium to large. I prefer to experiment with color to accentuate the mood in my series. To demonstrate the chilling effects of technology, I use a consistent blue hue in my artworks. The project involves depicting my husband and my oldest daughter in a realistic manner while implementing data errors. As an example of webcam hacking, I painted You Didn‘t Even Know I Hacked Into Your Computer. In this painting, the male model is sitting alone at his dining room table, reading a book. He is not aware that someone has hijacked the video camera on his computer and is watching him. In the Women’s Bathroom Surveillance, we are viewing a woman spied on while she washes her hands. In the painting titled Neighbor’s Webcam #1, the woman is standing outside on her front porch, serenely reading her mail. She is not cognizant of being viewed on the neighbor’s security camera.
Oil paints and brushes give me the ability to communicate the invasion of privacy. Throughout my figurative work, I pose models as if they were under surveillance via recording devices. I make use of glitches and pixels to depict distorted signals of data.
Digital technology is an important achievement in our generation. While making life better through communication and safeguarded in unthinkable ways, the privacy we formerly embraced is rapidly disappearing. Thus, my paintings strive to present these matters to the fore. Perhaps then, we as a society, can impart careful thought as to how to manage these obstacles.