S Y L L A B U S • ART OF SURVEILLANCE • SPRING 2005 • HOLMES (OFFICE MI-405)
January 27 (first day of class): Class 1
TOPIC: Readings and working syllabus distributed, surveys completed • defining surveillance via video • GL1 authorization
LECTURE: A big picture look at the field "Hacking Big Brother: Media Artists Attack Surveillance Culture"
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS):
SKIM Chapter 1 from Orwell's 1984 (http://www.mondopolitico.com/library/1984/1984_c1.htm), and read from
CTRL[Space]:
Dorte Zbikowski, "The Listening Ear: Phenomena of Acoustic Surveillance" p.33-49,
Thomas Y. Levin, "Rhetoric of the Temporal Index: Surveillant Narration..." p.579-593.
February 3 Class 2
TOPIC: Phenomenologies of Surveillance/Surveillance and Punishment
FILM: The Conversation (screening 1-3pm in class)
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Do A and B
A) Read Druckery in CTRL[Space] p. 150-157, read Foucault conversation p.94-101, and skim through Chapter 3, Politics of Observation.
Create ONE of the following responses to the reading (written responses one page or less); Please email this to the class and bring 1 printout for instructor!
1) Spoof ad for a bioinfomatics company (Ideas at end of Druckery article) or dataveillance company. (see
Adbusters for ideas).
3) Write a short positon paper that sets forth your response to the question of how modern systems of power are maintained. Foucault says (p.99) that power is a "machinery that no one owns" and on p. 100 discusses malveillance, an "apparatus of total and circulating mistrust" Consider contrasting this opinion with the Virilio quotation on p. 156: "ONE MAN = A TOTAL WAR."
4) Discuss the seduction of visibility in comparison to that of data-mining--are we living in a panoptic or post-optic world? (Druckery p. 151).
February 10Class 3
TOPIC: Surveillance and Punishment
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS):
A) Read CTRL[Space], Duncan Campbell, "Inside Eschelon," p.158-169.
B) Find a futuristic surveillance or dataveillance technology online that might be marketed to provide some form of "security". Be prepared to present this URL in class.
February 17 Class 4
Topic: Politics of Observation • IN-CLASS VISITOR Huong Ngo • http://www.huongngo.com/
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS):
READ in CTRL[Space] Victor Burgin, Jenni's Room: Exhibitionism and Solitude, pp. 228-235 and skim through Chapter 4, Surveillant Pleasures
B) Choose a writing or studio assignment:
WRITING: Respond to one or more of the following in a paper that is 1 page or less. Make 17 copies of your paper for next week for your classmates.
-Can surveillance be pleasureable?
-Do any of today's reality television shows do interesting/critical things with eavesdropping technologies? Do you think that reality television changes or alters human behavior of the participants in the way that Foucault describes a "disciplinary mechanism?"
-Compare JenniCam to Vito Acconci's provocative piece, SeedBed (1972).
STUDIO : Using a camcorder or digital camera bring in tape (2 minutes or less) or images of something live and happening in the city that could be considered an example of a "surveillant pleasure."
C) Email your instructor your topic/premise for your final project/lecture
February 24Class 5
LECTURE TOPICS DUE TODAY IN CLASS!
TOPIC: Surveillant Pleasures: Web cams, eroticism, etc.
GUEST PRESENTATION: Casey Reas
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS):
Read CTRL[Space] • Chapter 4: Ursula Frohne, "Screen Tests": Media Narcissism, Theatricality, and the Internalized Observer, p.253-277.

Studio: Please complete one of the following:
1) Are there any interesting artistic or scientific uses of webcams? If so, please lead us to this URL...
2) Tape a 2-5 minute segment of a reality television show to display in class that displays a "controlled spacethat perhaps has a double meaning or a subtle irony that interests you.
3) Set up a web cam/videocam at home and tape yourself in your apartment or living space for a day.
March 3 • POWERPOINT WORKSHOP TO PREPARE FINAL PROJECT RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS ON AN ARTIST
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Please prepare a powerpoint presentation about one or two of the artists covered in the text, CTRL<SPACE>. Use the web to find out additional details about the artist. Please focus on why you are interested in this artist's work, what drew you to it, and what the work says or does not say about the culture of surveillance.

March 10Class 6
TOPIC: Controlled Space

IN-CLASS VISITOR: Alex Shlepakov, DigiTek Security

IN-CLASS STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Please write a one page statement detailing what you would like to create as a final project for this class. The project must have a conceptual focus, some relevance to the content discussed in the course, and represent a challenging and exciting endeavor that can be accomplished in the space of five weeks. The project might be a:

performance
web site
research paper/in-class

video
poetic rant
children's book
tactical media campaign
lecture to the class
interactive installation

Have fun considering these ideas. Please email them to the whole class!

March 17 Class 7
TOPIC: Tracking Systems
PM: Discussion of final project proposals
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Read in CTRL[Space]:
1) Beatriz Colomina, "Enclosed by Images" p. 323-337 (historical overview of evolution of the multiscreen)
2) Gilles Deleuze: Postscript on Control Societies, p. 317-321
Assignment: Work on final project/generate 3 questions for discussion from readings.
March 24 • SPRING BREAK NO CLASS
April 7Class 8
500 WORD FINAL PROJECT PROPOSALS DUE! (first check)
TOPIC: Control, Surveillance, and Everyday Life
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Read in CTRL[Space]:
Geoffrey Batchen's "Guilty Pleasures" and skim through artists represented in Chapter 7 "Control, Surveillance, and Everyday Life" in CTRL[SPACE].
FINAL PROJECT STATEMENTS DUE: EMAIL INSTRUCTOR SECOND DRAFT
April 14 Class 9
AM • INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS TBA
PM • Discussion of reading/scheduling of final project presentations
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Read in CTRL[Space]:
Lev Manovich's "Modern Surveillance Machines" p. 382-395
McKenzie Wark's "To Vector the Spoils"
April 21Class 10
TOPIC: Dataveillance and 3D vision
HOMEWORK (DUE NEXT CLASS): Read in CTRL[Space]:
Steve Mann's "'Reflectionism' and 'Diffusionism'" New Tactics for Deconstructing the vido Surveillance Superhighway," p. 531-543
April 28 • Class 11
STUDIO WORK SESSION • Discussion of readings assigned Class 10
April 29 • Class 12
STUDIO WORK SESSION
May 5 • Class 13
NO CLASS CRITIQUE WEEK

May 12 • Class 14 • Final projects critique • Attendence mandatory or Incomplete grade assigned automatically