This is a project I worked on for Privacy Supreme - an event organized by Internet Freedom Foundation, an organization that carries out research and publishes work on data privacy, information technology rights and internet democracy in India. 

Description - 

Conceptualised by Jeremy Bentham, the Panopticon is a system of power imagined as a focal observation tower placed within a circle of prison cells. Once a hypothetical construct where all the prisoners can be seen by the guard in the central tower but the guard cannot be seen by the prisoners, nothing illustrates our modern surveillance state better than this. Using the Panopticon as the base structure, I have filled the prison cells with us - the subjects of surveillance, interacting with each other and keeping track of our lives - as our data is collected and processed into numbers. The imagery on the watchtower is an inversion of the iconic 3 Wise Monkeys, depicting a Big Brother who hears all, sees all and takes all action. If you look closely at the details around the cells, you can make out cultural references to surveillance, such as the stairs to an escape from dystopia - a reference to Truman’s walk to freedom in The Truman Show - broken here, preventing that release. 

The streams of red in both pieces represents the all-permeating control of the system (both government state and private digital giants), getting in every nook and cranny, keeping tabs on us wherever we go and whatever we do. 

In the first piece - on the future of privacy in India - the red flows out of the house of government, passing laws and upholding actions of the state in 'justifiably' surveilling our data. This is supported by tools such as the 'Pegasus' and mandatory government tracking apps, all the while taking cover behind the ongoing pandemic and internet shutdowns. The stream of red then reaches Lady Justice, who unlike the blind ideal, sneaks a peek at the identities of the people before delivering her verdict.

The second piece has the red flowing from a Death Star-like monstrosity, with CCTVs for arms, poking out of every corner. With the few bastions of data privacy like VPNs being pushed out and social media attaining full potential as data mines, no face will be left unscanned. On the left corner, you can see people connected to the web in different ways, all being herded up into a neat little shape that may remind you of a logo. Be careful to avoid the cookies and bots on your journey!