Panopticism

Panopticism summery by Kelly bruce/Cantrell.

Panopticism is the theory that criminals and deviants will behave and refrain from bad behavior if they feel they are being watched at any given moment.

A panopticon was a prison system that enabled a guard or “watcher” to see into any one of the prison cells at any given time without having to run from room to room, this was done not by the use of modern technology but by the design of the building. Circular in shape, the prison would have a centre that oversaw all the other cells and that way the guard in the middle could simply turn and look into any room of his choice.

The prisoners were not aware “when” they were being watched, they were simply aware that there was a “possibility” that they were being watched at any time and so the panopticon had a reversed psychology effect on the prisoners that ensured their good behavior.

There are many aspects of modern day culture that reflect Panopticism, for example CCTV, everywhere we go we are subtly “reminded” that we are being watched by CCTV, or that we are on camera, thieves will be prosecuted, this is a neighborhood watch area, etc. We see these signs on buses, trains, in shopping outlets, or even in your local neighborhood area.

But does this technique work in today’s society as it may have done back in history? On some level yes it does, when accompanied by other factors such as bright lights, public places and patrolling police officers.

But in cases of solitude and high crime areas people are “not” scared by these messages, but instead “offended” by them, and some may even see them as a challenge to act out worse crimes or acts of vandalism.

Do security cameras make a person feel safe when walking down the dark street at night? In my experience I would have to say no, someone could still attack you or worse, yes their blurred image may possibly be on camera depending on location and availability, angles etc. But what good has that done? Did it stop you from being attacked? No. And the attacker knows this also, they also know that their chances of being caught from CCTV are very low, seeing as we all know how bad the picture quality on a CCTV camera actually is. (thanks to television broadcasts and home CCTV kits, CCTV surveillance in movies etc)

So to an extent CCTV can work but only if accompanied by other more secure methods of preventing crime. It is also down to the individual and their state of mind as to whether they are particularly bothered about the notion of being watched, or if they are so used to it as a way of life that the thought never even crosses their minds. I for one, never feel as though I am being “watched” as such when I walk around the city, although I am aware that CCTV is in place, I do not actually envision anyone actually “watching” it 24 hours a day, at worst someone may review the recordings every so often or maybe even only in the case of a crime being reported, so I don’t really feel as though I am being “watched” in this way.

Interestingly though, if one is to make eye contact with such a device, they may look away uncomfortably, as though “seeing” the camera itself, as a pose to a sign that just tells you there is a camera, makes one feel less at ease, or in some cases more at ease, in feeling you can be seen because you can see “them”. (“Them” in this case being the robotic eyes, or in other words CCTV cameras) This notion takes me back to John Bergers “ways of seeing” essay and the first few lines written about how “soon after we can see, we are aware that we can also be seen”.

Another aspect of panopticism is that of “reality TV shows” in which people “willingly” subject themselves to the public eye by entering an area, house or show in which they are being constantly monitored by a “fly in the wall” surveillance system in order to showcase their everyday qualities and so called “real-life” personalities to the general public.

Although one could argue that this is not “reality” TV because although the people may not be trained actors or professionals, they will still behave differently because they will know at all times they are being watched, on both a conscious and unconscious level.

The same applies to the stressed out parent in the grocery store who finds that his or her children are not behaving as they would at home and is torn about what to do about it in such a public setting away from the norm at home, Even a small child can pick up on this difference and therefore is already being subjected to the notion of Panoptics before they are even learning how to articulate a sentence.

ways of seeing

Ways of seeing, J. Berger

Summery by Kelly Bruce/Cantrell.

Bergers essay on “ways of seeing” discusses how the reproduction of an original work of art mystifies the viewer of the piece and changes the context and meaning behind the artwork.

Through reproduction the entire meaning behind a piece of artwork can be lost entirely or changed to something utterly different. For example one could crop an area of a master painting to change it into a portrait rather than a landscape painting, words can be added to an abstracted piece of work to subtlety lead the viewer toward a hinted conclusion or thesis.

Does reproduction lessen the value of an original piece of art? Or does it in fact increase the value of the artwork? On one hand reproduction enables artwork to be brought to the attention of the masses, rather than the privileged minority it once served. But this also devalues the original in that it can now be mass produced and sold on at a cheaper price, It is no longer a rarity, or a one off piece that you need to go visit in a gallery, but a flat and shiny reproduced image that can be found just about anywhere.

So does this devalue the “original”? Now referred to as “the original” thanks to the commodity that is reproduction, or does it in fact make the original piece of work more sought after, as it has now become a rarity in itself?

The artwork is no longer defined by what it is or what it conveys but by it’s value as an original piece of artwork, and is often only declared “art” when it’s originality and heritage can be proven and certified.

The reproduced artwork’s meaning is lost the moment it is copied and transferred to a different setting, for the meaning and the message behind a piece of work is also seen in it’s surroundings, and in the brush strokes and intensity of the original.

A reproduced image now hung above hundreds of different mantelpieces, in different rooms around the world with different lighting and color schemes surrounding them, a varying assortment of furniture and other items to compliment or shadow the work can completely change it’s context and meaning because it is now “seen” differently, taking into account all these other factors.

Ways of seeing discusses how we “see” things before we can verbalize them, and how what we see around us and who is seeing us in return affects our sense of placement and belonging in the world. The same criteria can then be applied to the artwork, and how the use of the camera affects our perception of the photograph. We see the angles, and arrangement that the photographer, (or artist) wants us to see, we see what they saw, this originality and expression is lost however in the stigma that is reproduction.

The art of the past holds no authority like it once did, it has now become political, and all about the ethics of money, trade and value. Berger states that the “only” reason why art of the past has become so political is because a people or class has been cut off from it’s own past, a past in which that same class of people were able to situate themselves in history in a way that they cannot today.

Essay

How the age of digital media and technology has influenced and toyed with our perceptions of human identities.

By Kelly Cantrell/Bruce.

The Internet has played a phenomenal role in the ways we interact and communicate with one and other as a society. This has also had a direct effect on our approach toward communication and the perceptions we have surrounding identity and belonging in a technologically changing world.

If we examine today’s world of online social networking and 3D virtual communities, (such as facebook, twitter, bebo, myspace and second life) it is immediately apparent how attitudes surrounding personal identity have changed over the last decade, thanks to the internet of course…

“The medium is the message”, is a quote that was famously coined by communication theorist ‘Marshall Mcluhan’ back in the 1960’s, suggesting that the content of a medium is often less important than the difference it makes in us by just having it around.

People are now willing to share close, sometimes deep personal information about themselves online, seeing it as merely “sharing information” after all the internet seems to be all about sharing information and giving and receiving feedback from your peers, giving out this type of information a decade or so ago would have been considered completely absurd and rather “uncivilised” almost, whereas today’s youth are growing up in this world of social networking so writing a status on facebook about what music you are currently listening to or what you had for dinner the night before is now considered completely normal, an everyday occurrence in day to day life.

So is it the safety of sitting at home behind a screen that makes people act so differently? That makes us loose our inhibitions and shed our media induced idealogical skins in favor of being able to live out our ‘true’ idenitites online?

Thinking about this does beg the question, “are we really living false lives in the real world and being our true selves online? Or are our online identities the fake ones?

James Harkin, London based freelance writer believes that: “The internet allows one to define themselves rather than being defined by others”, whilst some critics would argue that the Internet actually encourages anti-socialism and is a contributing factor toward an increasingly unfit population.

In fact studies have shown that over four out of five young adults under the age of thirty now prefer to spend time on the internet or their mobile phones than sat in front of the TV. (study published in Autumn, 2007, Cyburbia, p167, James Harkin) These statistics demonstrate how rapidly the internet is taking the lead in the publics main choice of media indulgence, it may be mostly popular amongst a younger age group, but of course they will become the future generation and the new generations will also grow up in a world of social networking and cyber culture.

The Chinese government have even gone as far as to ban the opening of cybercafés in China and to legally limit the amount of time teenagers are permitted to play games in such establishments, in an attempt to protect their young from becoming addicted to online games.

However it is not just young consumers that face the possibility of Internet addiction, take for example the BBC documentary: “Virtual adultery and cyberspace love”, which showcases the story of Carolyn, a thirty seven year old housewife in the United States who has a virtual affair with Elliot, a British male who is over five thousand miles away from her.

The documentary is initially very funny and one is not certain if it is to be taken seriously or not, is this really what future communications and identity has come to? Another BBC report has stated that there are now “cyber detectives” who actually work in second life for “real” money by setting up what’s known as “honey traps” to try and catch a particular spouse out in the act of infidelity, although virtual some would argue that this is still unfaithful rather than harmless fun, like in the “alleged” case of Amy Taylor who apparently filed for divorce after twice catching her husband having virtual sex with another women in second life, (this is done using avatars that the user controls) when confronted about this her husband told her he no longer loved her and that it was over.

Hearing this kind of news is very difficult to digest in any form of seriousness, but this crazy world of second life is actually real and home to over thirty thousand residents.

Johnathan Mostow’s 2009 feature film: “Surrogates” staring Bruce willis further explores this threshold of virtual identity, in the film over 98% of the population have what is known as a “surrogate”, a highly advanced robotic double with lifelike skin, eyes and mouth that a user controls from home by laying in a pod that is then wirelessly connected to their surrogate which they have full control over. The user can feel through their surrogate, have sexual relations with other surrogates, run faster, and look younger or slimmer and live out their fantasies through another model rather than risking their own bodies.

This seems to emulate what people are already doing now with their identities online and in virtual worlds, It’s just taking it another few steps further, and with the ever advancing state of digital media these seems highly possible.

“All media are extensions of some human faculty-psychic or physical. The wheel… is an extension of the foot. The book is an extension of the eye…clothing, an extension of the skin.” Marshall Mcluhan.

So is social networking an extension of the soul? Stelarc, the Greek performance artist states that: “Man is beginning to wear his brain outside his skull, and his nerves outside his skin, new technology breeds new man.” Stelarc believes that it is only the next natural stage of evolution for man to become one with machine, one of his performance art demonstrations involved hooking himself up to numerous muscle stimulators on all of his major muscles and then allowing his body to be controlled by internet users around the world- simply by clicking a button.

Another famed performance artist known as Orlac, has attempted to merge traditional art with a new form of contemporary performance art. Using digital compositions of faces from famous renaissance paintings, Orlac has undergone several plastic surgery procedures live on the internet, whilst fully awake in order to “Bring into question the standards of beauty imposed by our society”, Orlac is objectifying herself as a piece of artwork, changing her physical identity by using digital media process’s in order to meet her artistic desires.

However her work has caused speculation amongst critics as to her motives. Art critic James Gardner stipulates that Orlan is just a deleterious example of “the French obsession with refinement and feminine beauty”, another critic, Barbara Rose contends that Orlan is simply acting out “the madness of a demand for an unachievable physical perfection” and Mark Derry, (Escape velocity) hints that Orlac’s description of going under the knife as a cathartic experience “would not sound out of place on the lips of a plastic surgery addict”, Derry concludes that Orlac’s professed feminism and her manifest posthumanism cancel each other out, after the artist stated in a written interview that “we must accept ourselves as we are… but in an age of genetic manipulation, this is a primitive outlook”.

The age of digital media has not only affected national statistics for watching TV, but it has also altered our expectations of film and TV narrative structure.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 film “The killing” was panned by critics and audiences for being too non-linear and confusing. Today’s society on the other hand look favourably on these types of films, yearning for dynamic and non-linear narratives that will capture and engage their attention whilst challenging set conventions and perceptions of identity and self.

Films such as “Pulp fiction”, “crash”, “The butterfly effect” and “memento” to name a few also follow this route of non-linear story-telling, there is usually a play on identity and the viewers sense of time is muddled up and non-conformist resulting in lots of little overlapping connections that eventually convene into one giant conclusion… or sometimes leave the viewer clueless and requiring a second or third view of the film.

Because digital media has changed the ways in which we see others, and ourselves. Audiences are now demanding more engaging and less predictable film narratives that actually challenge rather than conform to a set of clichéd conventions.

Because of this, there has also been a major rise in the popularity of world cinema as movie-goers are now seeking out something new and different to a genre that they only know too well. Actors and actresses are now lending their voices and body movements to computer generated characters on screen, movement-tracking technology can now track their movements and thus incorporate these movements into their virtual characters or avatars on screen body language.

Robert Zemeckis 2007 fully CGI movie “Beowulf” replaces actors with realistic virtual doubles of their real selves, (of course using this technology means signs of age can be removed or added as required, actors will no longer need to hit the gym to play a specific role, and the use of make-up and more practical ways of creating special effects may eventually be eradicated or become a rarity.)

Does this mean that we are tiring of pre-virtual identity? Are we now embracing the idea that science fiction may not be science fiction anymore but is a very possible reality?

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation was founded in 1972 and is a world leader in the phenomenon of cryonics.

They believe that “Death is a neurological process that begins after the heart stops. A stopped heart only causes death if nothing is done when the heart stops. Cryonics proposes to do something.”

Alcor also state on their website, (www.alcor.org) that: “Cryonics is not a belief that the dead can be revived. Cryonics is a belief that no one is really dead until the information content of the brain is lost, and that low temperatures can prevent this loss.”

Does Stelarc’s famous quotation “I sing the body obsolete”, now have more truth behind it than ever with the rise of digital media and technology?

Shirow Masamune’s “Ghost in the shell” franchise which consists of manga comic books, feature length animated movies and 2 spin off series, revolves around the idea of cyber terrorism, brain hacking and the notion that people’s minds can be uploaded and downloaded into various computer databases and artificial bodies.

The lead female Character, Motoko, but referred to in the Anime as “major” is more machine than human in terms of her body, the only parts of her that remain organic are her brain and spinal cord, and in one episode she is shown to be having herself “uploaded” into the system and then “downloaded” into a replacement body within minutes.

A statement taken from the Alcor life extension website claims that: “we do not believe revival of neuropatients will involve anything as primitive as cloning or transplants. It seems much more likely that the patient's own cells will be prodded into regrowing the body that belongs around the brain in a reprise of the natural process that made the body in the first place. This could be done by combined natural and specialized growth programs, and also augmented by direct synthesis of scaffolding and cell placement by nanomedicine.”

Although this technology is not yet in place, and is mainly talked about in science fiction movies and books, it does not mean that in the future it will not be a possible and very viable option. In fact, looking at the ways in which medicine and technology are being combined and utilized in research facilities and hospitals presently only further endorses Alcor’s statements regarding nanotechnology and future medicine having every possibility of preserving human life.

As Alcor themselves have stated, they do not believe in the practice of reviving “dead” people, what they are doing is “preserving” the information and memory content of your brain so that future technology may be able to restore your identity in a newly grown and healthy vessel.

Alcor’s home page states the following: “Alcor seeks to prevent loss of information within the brain that encodes memory and personality identity, which is the true boundary between life and death.”

This brings about some serious questions about who we are as human beings, are we merely machines with data chips that can be transferred and copied onto another hard-drive when the first one breaks down?

Religion stipulates that god made man in “his” own image; so one could argue then that mankind has also made machine in our own image… so it is very possible to theorize that god may too have been merely some primitive form of biological or even spiritual machine that created humanity in it’s own image?

James Cameron’s 1984 hit feature: “Terminator” emulates this idea that men make machine, and then machines becomes “self-aware” and declares war on mankind, this theme can be seen perpetually in a myriad of science fiction movies to date.

Human physical identity as well as our psychological identities is already in a state of question as more and more people are experimenting with artificial bodily replacements such as pacemakers and artificial limbs, even reconstructive and plastic surgery has altered our perceptions of identity and let’s not forget the effects of the media, photo-shopped imagery and airbrushed supermodels that barely resemble anything close to what a real person looks like.

Cynthia Jackson who appeared on the Jenny Jones show in 1993 is a perfect example of how the media has taken the structure of “female” identity and severely misrepresented it by re-structuring it into a one dimensional and ideological re-imagining of how a female should look in the eyes white western society.

Cynthia has undergone 19 cosmetic operations in order to look like mattel’s famed “Barbie doll” in an effort to ‘expand her possibilities’ and live a better quality of life. Jackson herself stated “she cannot walk down the street in L.A because everyone is a Barbie over there”.

It seems that people will forever seek to change their bodies and thus their identities as humans as there will always be commodities to be consumed, it is doubtful that there will ever be a limit to body modification with the constant development of cosmetic surgeries, liposuction, collagen injections, laser treatment, breast, buttocks and calve implants, face-lifts, etc, it is highly possibly that gene splicing will be next and probably a whole new level of microbiological body redesign will follow.

Joanna Zylinksa, writer of “The cyborg experiments” claims that the body is “invested as a fetish, and is used as a fetish in a desperate attempt at identifying oneself”.

The body is no longer seen as “I” but as an “it” to be improved, and the rise of digital media has only further helped to encourage and redefine human identity as two separate entities, the body and the mind. And with the advancement of technology, digital media and the media’s obsession with pushing a generic standard of beauty on top of a population already hooked on superficial identity, It is highly likely that in the next hundred years or so human-kind will have completely and totally obliterated our natural form of identity and belonging within the human race in favor of custom made beauty and genetic alteration that is enforced by ideological standards of beauty, it is in fact very possible that if this were to happen, humanity will end up being the very opposite of what they set out to be.

Get a life and Cyberspace love critique

Second life love, critique.

Kelly Bruce/Cantrell.

I had the unfortunate experience of experimenting with second life myself during the first year of my course, and at the end of it was thankful that I would never need go on it again or even think about it for that matter. However I now find myself unfortunate enough to have to again revisit second life in order to write this critique for a critical studies assignment. Oh the joy.

“Virtual Adultery and Cyberspace love” is a 40 minute BBC documentary that was aired in 2008 and features a few couples and their experiences with second life, the 3D virtual environment brought to us by Linden labs.

Carolyn, a 37yr old mother in the U.S. began using second life because she was depressed and fed up with her mundane life as a typical stay at home domesticated mother/housewife so she stumbled upon second life one day and soon found herself creating a sexed up barberella type avatar and flying around in second life chatting, shopping and living the life she so dreamed of.

She soon met a male avatar and they began a year long emotional affair, resulting in Carolyn spending more time in second life than in her real life with her husband and children. She was then willing to fly over 5,000 miles to be with this virtual other, and leave her husband and kids behind, whilst they waited for her return.

Another couple met on there, got together and then went back on second life to get married! And of course there are the people that build properties and design clothing etc to be sold on second life for linden dollars that can then be exchanged into real dollars.

So why do we hear about these kind of stories in the news? I even read one about private detectives setting up virtual agencies on there in order to catch out virtual cheating spouses, it almost sounds like a joke right? There are also strip joints and sex parlors on there that have been pre-programmed so that if you put your avatar into a virtual bed or chair that has the required action scripting built into it then your avatar will carry out the actions programmed, for example inappropriate sexual gestures or dance moves.

My view is that there is a minority of people with addictive personalities, a minority of bored repressed housewives with a poor quality of life, men going through a mid-life crisis, horny teenage boys, sex-obsessed middle aged men who pretend they are going on there for “business” opportunities when really they are just bored, have probably had too many affairs and visited one too many strip joints and are now seeking out some new form of sexual stimulation.

I mean let’s face it, how much money can you “actually” make on second life? And who would want to? From my perspective I think that all of this is a front to cover up the seediness that is really “second life” and yes I am going to get a grilling for that from those that like to spend time on there, because I guess it has educational benefits too, and some of the surroundings and scenery I have seen are fantastic and require real skill, imagination and dedication to build.

However just as money makes the world go round, and sex is the number one marketing tool in any advertisement, it is also the driving force behind late night cable TV, the internet, and of course the sex industry is probably the richest sector in the world, sex will also be the main driving force behind second life whether intentional or not.

I can see how some who are not used to the world of gaming or even computer generated movies and animation may become hooked on the 3D world that is second life and may find themselves in complete and utter awe of the graphical capabilities, but as a gamer myself I found the graphics laughable, and not one bit gripping, second life was not a place I would like to stay in for long as visually I find it a bit of an eyesore.

Again it depends on your personality, some may not be bothered at all by the blocky graphics and slow loading times, or the glitchy interface, they may instead be enthralled by the 3D building capabilities and ability to create whatever your imagination allows, and then to own the intellectual rights to your creation…

Me, I would rather blast some zombies on my playstation for entertainment or read a book about the fundamentals of cat behaviour, I just sincerely hope that this will be the last time EVER that I have to waste any of my precious time thinking or writing about the travesty that is second life.