[-empyre-] week three | locative scraping and counter-surveillance

[Robert Spahr]

On Wed, 18 Nov 2015 23:40:07 +0400
Dale Hudson <dale.hudson at nyu.edu> wrote:

> One of our favorites, is Distress Cruft (my fellow americans), which
> scrapes the security photographs for tourists to the Empire State
> Building in New York — the very photos that tourist can purchase as
> souvenirs. The program composites the image with a U.S. flag hung to
> signal distress, thus visualizing the content state of distress in
> post-9/11 NYC. It asks us to question the erosion of privacy in the
> name of security.


Thanks to both Dale and Patty for moderating this month. 

I want to build upon Dale's comments about my work called Distress
Cruft (my fellow americans).  This work represents one of the major
themes in my creative practice regarding the ways that the network and
software in general can be used as tools of freedom and control. For
example, the use of free software such as GNU+Linux allows one
the freedom to understand how the software works, rather than being
controlled by proprietary softwares hidden algorithms. Free software
respects the users freedoms.

After the recent terrorist attacks in Paris last week, the discussion
in the main stream media seems to be pointing to the _possible_ use of
encryption, and if encryption is allowed to continue, it will prevent
law enforcement from keeping us safe from future attacks.  An
alternative argument would be that encryption keeps our data and
privacy safe from those who would cause harm.

We are in distress, hence the signal of the upside down flag in my
artwork, and with each terrorist attack we continue to lose control of
our data, privacy, and the network. 

Distress Cruft (my fellow americans) was created in reaction to living
in Manhattan after 9/11, when the number of CCTV cameras increased, and
our bags were beginning to be searched when one traveled by subway.
Unfortunately, these most recent attacks show the power grab for our
privacy has only gotten worse, as we continue to give up more freedoms,
for the illusion of more security. 


-- 
Robert Spahr
http://www.robertspahr.com