SOUSVEILLANCE

volksbühne berlin [2015]

In today’s world, recording devices have shrunk to a size so compact that anyone can capture moments from their daily lives with nothing more than a smartphone, instantly publishing them to the web. This unprecedented accessibility has not only transformed personal storytelling but also redefined our relationship with time and memory. By capturing and sharing data, we are not just documenting fleeting moments; we are actively constructing visual representations of an era where everyone has become a data collector.

Where once it was the state or privileged institutions that held the power to monitor individuals, today, that dynamic has shifted. The very individuals who were once subject to surveillance now possess the tools to surveil and track, not just their own lives, but the lives of higher-ranking institutions. The role of the observer has been democratized, and with it, the distribution of power has become more diffuse. We now store vast quantities of information and have the ability to pass it on at will, all while shouldering the responsibility for its preservation and accuracy.

This fundamental shift is not just about the ability to record; it is about the transformation of society’s relationship to information and authority. Technologies like wearable computing, which allow data to be collected seamlessly and continuously, are dramatically altering our perception of privacy, control, and accountability. The once-clear boundaries between the observed and the observer are blurring, creating a new landscape where power is shared, contested, and distributed in ways we are still only beginning to understand.

As we move deeper into this era, the implications for how we interact with data, authority, and even ourselves will continue to evolve, raising important questions about who controls the narrative and what it means to be a responsible collector of the data that shapes our world.