|
Rhetorics
of Surveillance
from Bentham to Big Brother
In 1785, the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832), founder of the doctrine of Utilitarianism, began
working on a plan for a model prison called the panopticon.
The signature feature of this design was that every one of
the individual jail cells could be seen from a central observation
tower which, however, remained visually inscrutable to the
prisoners. Since they could thus never know for sure whether
they were being watched, but had to assume that they were,
the fact of actual observation was replaced by the possibility
of being watched. As a rationalist, Bentham assumed that this
would lead the delinquents to refrain from misbehaving, since
in order to avoid punishment, they would effectively internalize
the disciplinary gaze. Indeed, Bentham considered the panoptic
arrangement, whereby power operates by means of the spatial
design itself, as a real contribution to the education of
man, in the spirit of the Enlightenment.
|
Interview with curator Thomas Y. Levin [in German]
Webcams as part of the exhibition space
-------
follow the ongoing exhibition via the webcams
mounted in both lightyards
|
