SURVEILLANCE + POWER
The exercise of power and the use of surveillance as a tool for its enforcement on different communities has been a topic of interest for several modern and contemporary artists. Whether in the context of military and geo-political conflicts, or on a national and local level, the inequities inherent in power structures are key to understanding these issues. The works in this portfolio attest to the myriad ways in which these topics have been approached and draws attention to the various realms in which surveillance and power are persistent tools for control and subordination.
Richard Mosse (Irish, b. 1980)
Richard Mosse captured this image using a militarygrade thermographic camera that reveals the dehumanizing horrors of the refugee experience. This technology allowed Mosse to shoot the photo from a distance, without being noticed or interrupting the dynamic of the camp. The camera registers readings of heat instead of the individual features of the subjects, and therefore creates a record of ghostlike figures victims of displacement.
Accession Number: 2017.6.4
Title: Idomeni Camp, Greece
Date: 2016
Medium: Digital c-print on metallic paper
Rights: © Richard Mosse. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
KEYWORDS
Refugees; surveillance; military; displacement; war; survivors; technology; power.
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Trevor Paglen (American, b. 1974)
This work is part of a series in which Trevor Paglen photographs and reveals the physical structures that house intelligence and security agencies, which are unknown to most people. Following the revelations made by Edward Snowden in 2013 regarding the US government’s surveillance programs (which included few images of the sites), Paglen set to capture photos of these buildings and made them available to the public.
Accession Number: 2013.34.79
Title: National Security Agency Utah Data Center, Bluffdale, UT
Date: 2012
Medium: C-print
Rights: © Trevor Paglen
KEYWORDS
surveillance; technology; government; classified information; intelligence; privacy; power.
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Jenny Holzer (American, b. 1950)
Since 2005, Jenny Holzer has been obtaining documents relating to the Iraq War through the Freedom of Information Act. Although these are public documents, much of the information they contain has been redacted to preserve national security and anonymity pertaining to political and military actions. Taking liberties with the color and scale of the documents, Holzer creates a work that evokes color field painting as well as the practice of redaction of classified information.
Accession Number: 2015.1.10
Title: 6 Text: U.S. government document
Date: 2012
Medium: Oil on linen
Rights: © 2017 Jenny Holzer / Member Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, image courtesy of the artist
KEYWORDS classified information; Iraq war; Freedom of Information Act; politics; surveillance; government; redacted; power.
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Marcus Jansen (American b. 1968)
Informed by his experience as a soldier in the Gulf War, Marcus Jansen articulates socio-political commentary on global and national events. Jansen incorporates in his critical approach elements of graffiti, popular culture, history, and geo-politics. In this work, multiple meanings are layered on to a landscape that contains the ruins of a typewriter, alluding to the destruction of sites during war as well and the stories told about them, structures of power and surveillance.
Accession Number: 2020.35
Title: Plot #2
Date: 2018
Medium: Oil, enamels, mixed media on canvas
Rights: © Marcus Antonius Jansen / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
KEYWORDS surveillance; power; conspiracies; military intervention; war; government; conspiracies; storytelling.
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Patrick Martinez (American, b. 1980)
Patrick Martinez’s work is informed by current events and public discourse around inequality and power. In this work, Martinez depicts several individuals who were killed as the result of excessive forced used by police officers. Using the format of the Pee Chee folder, the artist turns on its head an object associated with education and growth and turns it into a memorial to the victims of excessive power and profiling.
Accession Number: 2020.36
Title: Racism Doesn’t Rest During a Pandemic Pee Chee (No Justice No Peace)
Date: 2020
Medium: Four-color offset folder print
Rights: © 2020 Carlos Patrick Martinez
KEYWORDS police brutality; power; racism; inequality; surveillance; profiling.
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Philip Guston (America, b. Canada, 1913-1980)
The son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, Philip Guston frequently addresses in his work the politically charged atmosphere of the 20th century. Caricaturized depictions of Klansmen and representations of street conflicts are emblematic of his unique visual vocabulary and critical perspective. The image connects to the various protests of the late 60s and the oppressive hand of the government, here covered by a Mickey Mouse glove and holding a baton which attempts to contain the crowds.
Accession Number: 1982.10.5
Title: The Street
Date: 1970
Medium: Lithograph
Rights: © The Estate of Philip Guston, courtesy Hauser & Wirth
KEYWORDS
power; protest; control; conflict; denounce; resistance; police.
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Michael Stone (American, b. 1945)
Michael Stone grew up in Los Angeles fascinated by television, particularly the local news and old movies. As a photographer, he approaches the medium from a playful yet profound perspective, often using software as his creative tool. In this work he critiques the endless deployments of American soldiers around the world. By depicting Black figures as soldiers, the work also comments on the power dynamics of military recruitment.
Accession Number: 2018.8
Title: Endless Deployment
Date: 2011
Medium: Digital c-print
Rights: © Michael Stone
KEYWORDS
military; intervention; power; politics; history; race; war; satire.
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ADDITIONAL WORKS
Matthew Brannon, Concerning Vietnam: Situation Room, February 1965, 2016
Matthew Brannon, USS Turner Joy, 2017
Matthew Brannon, Concerning Vietnam: Oval Office, October 1967, 2018
Alfredo Jaar, A Logo for America, 1987/2014
