Denormalising surveillance through curation in Face Value:Surveillance and Identity in the Age of Digital Face Recognition

Rosa Wevers

doi:10.1080/25741136.2023.2210425

Denormalising surveillance through curation in Face Value:Surveillance and Identity in the Age of Digital Face Recognition

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

In spite of a range of fundamental issues, biometric surveillance has become an integral part of everyday life. Artists are creating a range of creative responses to the emergence of biometric control that critically interrogate and denormalise it. Most of the existing research in this topic however ignores the exhibitionary context in which surveillance art is usually experienced. This article shifts the analytical perspective to the site of the exhibition in order to attend to the specificity of the artworks’ critical potential – that is influenced by their spatial and narrative context, as well as their juxtaposition with each other. Specifically, it analyses the exhibition Face Value: Surveillance and Identity in the Age of Digital Facial Recognition (2021) as an exemplary case study to discuss how exhibitions can construct a multi-faceted framework through which visitors can get a grip of the ‘society of control’. Drawing on Pisters and Deleuze, this article argues that exhibitions can engender a constellation of ‘circuit breakers’ in which the biometric control of faces is disrupted through a configuration of artistic strategies. In Face Value, these strategies include exposing the black-boxed structures of facial recognition software, showing the human stories behind data and imagining alternative technologies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	182-198
Number of pages	17
Journal	Media Practice and Education
Volume	24
Issue number	2
Early online date	2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/25741136.2023.2210425
Publication status	Published - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The research leading to this article was funded by the Dutch Scientific Research Council (NWO) for the project ‘Opening Up the Black Box: Artistic Explorations of Technological Surveillance’. I would like to thank IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture], and in particular Arjon Dunnewind, for our collaboration on Face Value, and all the artists for allowing me to exhibit their work. I would also like to thank my supervisors, prof. dr. Rosemarie Buikema, prof. dr. Beatrice de Graaf and dr. Evelyn Wan, for their valuable comments.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by Dutch Scientific Research Council (NWO) under project number PGW.19.025, budget number 8361. The research leading to this article was funded by the Dutch Scientific Research Council (NWO) for the project ‘Opening Up the Black Box: Artistic Explorations of Technological Surveillance’. I would like to thank IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture], and in particular Arjon Dunnewind, for our collaboration on Face Value, and all the artists for allowing me to exhibit their work. I would also like to thank my supervisors, prof. dr. Rosemarie Buikema, prof. dr. Beatrice de Graaf and dr. Evelyn Wan, for their valuable comments.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

Art exhibition
Biometric surveillance
Disruption
Facial recognition
Surveillance art

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10.1080/25741136.2023.2210425Licence: CC BY

Denormalising surveillance through curation in Face Value Surveillance and Identity in the Age of Digital Face RecognitionFinal published version, 2.23 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "In spite of a range of fundamental issues, biometric surveillance has become an integral part of everyday life. Artists are creating a range of creative responses to the emergence of biometric control that critically interrogate and denormalise it. Most of the existing research in this topic however ignores the exhibitionary context in which surveillance art is usually experienced. This article shifts the analytical perspective to the site of the exhibition in order to attend to the specificity of the artworks{\textquoteright} critical potential – that is influenced by their spatial and narrative context, as well as their juxtaposition with each other. Specifically, it analyses the exhibition Face Value: Surveillance and Identity in the Age of Digital Facial Recognition (2021) as an exemplary case study to discuss how exhibitions can construct a multi-faceted framework through which visitors can get a grip of the {\textquoteleft}society of control{\textquoteright}. Drawing on Pisters and Deleuze, this article argues that exhibitions can engender a constellation of {\textquoteleft}circuit breakers{\textquoteright} in which the biometric control of faces is disrupted through a configuration of artistic strategies. In Face Value, these strategies include exposing the black-boxed structures of facial recognition software, showing the human stories behind data and imagining alternative technologies.",

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note = "Funding Information: The research leading to this article was funded by the Dutch Scientific Research Council (NWO) for the project {\textquoteleft}Opening Up the Black Box: Artistic Explorations of Technological Surveillance{\textquoteright}. I would like to thank IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture], and in particular Arjon Dunnewind, for our collaboration on Face Value, and all the artists for allowing me to exhibit their work. I would also like to thank my supervisors, prof. dr. Rosemarie Buikema, prof. dr. Beatrice de Graaf and dr. Evelyn Wan, for their valuable comments. Funding Information: This work was supported by Dutch Scientific Research Council (NWO) under project number PGW.19.025, budget number 8361. The research leading to this article was funded by the Dutch Scientific Research Council (NWO) for the project {\textquoteleft}Opening Up the Black Box: Artistic Explorations of Technological Surveillance{\textquoteright}. I would like to thank IMPAKT [Centre for Media Culture], and in particular Arjon Dunnewind, for our collaboration on Face Value, and all the artists for allowing me to exhibit their work. I would also like to thank my supervisors, prof. dr. Rosemarie Buikema, prof. dr. Beatrice de Graaf and dr. Evelyn Wan, for their valuable comments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

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Denormalising surveillance through curation in Face Value:Surveillance and Identity in the Age of Digital Face Recognition

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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