City Panopticism

City Panopticism – 城市全景敞视主义

Wang Xiaoyu 王晓宇, Wang Yutian 王雨田

Two hundred years ago, English philosopher Jeremy Bentham invented Panopticon as a spatial prototype for disciplinary criminals. The lighthouse in the center of the circle emits light from time to time in a 360-degree individual cell, making it impossible for prisoners to know if they are being monitored. In theory, this model efficiently reduces police force, the prisoner is constrained by self-discipline, and Foucault has named it as Panopticism. If the light from the lighthouse in the middle of the panopticon is invisible Eyes at that time, then two hundred years later, with the development of electronic surveillance systems in the city, the camera has become the invisible eyes of the present, effectively restraining crime. It also inevitably exposes people’s daily life and redefines the boundaries between public and private spheres. In this context, the device is envisioned as a city panopticon that intended to discuss how people’s perceptions of space is reshaped and explore how people interact with each other through the lens of camera and screens.

The concept of the device is designed to be hidden in a circular observation room in the public space of the city. Through the replacement of a series of electronic cameras and screens, people’s behaviors both inside and outside the device are recorded and displayed and mutually revealed to each other. When a person monitors the others, he or she can also be clearly seen how him/herself are being monitored by the others. The physical image of a person is deconstructed and reshaped by an electronic screen, namely the “eye”. The device is specifically designed as a circular wood structure with a radius of 4m and a height of 3.2m. The inner wall is composed of multiple electronic screens, the outer wall is made of hidden frame mirror-effect stainless steel, and there are 6 major apertures with special shapes and interactive functions that connects the inside and outside of the device.
In addition, the design concept is further developed to discuss the displacement of seeing and being seen relationship between the installation and the 9 sub-venue sites. We would like to install one screen and one camera on each sub-venue site and displace the LED screen display between installation site and the sub-venue site. What should be seeing from the installation LED screen is now displaying what’s happening on sub-venue site and vice versa. This reversion creates a continuously back and force relationship between the two screens. In this way, we connect all venues with one big observation room, meanwhile, it is fully exposed to the city. Through this reciprocatively interactive process, we would like to discuss a new perspective of connectivity by using digital apparatus.

200年前，边沁发明了圆形监狱作为规训罪犯的空间模式，位于圆形中心的灯塔向360度环绕的牢房不定时地射出光线，使犯人无法知道自己是否被监视，在减少警力的同时，令犯人因自律而受到约束，福柯将它命名为全景敞视主义。如果说圆形监狱中间的灯塔射出的光是隐形的眼睛，那么200年后的今天，随着城市中电子监控系统的发展，摄像头已成为了那一双双隐形的眼睛，既有效地约束了犯罪行为，也无形中曝光了人们的日常生活，重新限定了公共和私密领域的界限。本装置试图在这一情境下讨论人们如何重塑对空间的感知，并探索人们如何通过摄像头和屏幕彼此互动。

此装置是隐匿在城市公共空间中的圆形观察室，通过一系列电子摄像头和屏幕的置换，使装置内外同时记录和展示着观众的活动，达到“你中有我，我中有你”的画中画效果。因此人们在“观察”别人的同时，也可以清楚地看到自己如何在被对方“观察”。人的物理形象被电子屏幕——即“眼睛”解构并重塑。装置本身是一个半径为4米，高为3.2米的圆形木结构，内壁由多块电子屏幕构成，外壁为隐框镜面不锈钢，另置6个具有特殊形状和互动功能的洞口，用于装置内外两侧进行人人活动和人机互动。

此设计概念也试图讨论装置内部和其它9个分会场之间互相置换的看与被看的关系。我们希望可以在每个分会场安置一对摄像头和电子屏幕，并将记录的现场信息和主展场进行置换。观众在主展场的装置内壁屏幕上看到的内容来自分会场摄像头所拍摄的内容，反之亦然。这一置换使两组屏幕之间产生持续映射的关系。通过这样的形式，我们将所有分展场都连接到了主展场这个巨大的观察室，与此同时，也完全暴露在分展场代表的城市之中。我们希望使用电子媒介，通过这样一种循环往复的交互，以全新的角度讨论连接性这个问题。

Credits:

Yutian Wang 王雨田, Xiaoyu Wang 王晓宇.