Artist Statement: Theme of the semester & Project 3 Conclusion

Over the course of the semester, I have been discussing elements of how we are affected by new media both negatively and positively. As a drawer, graffiti artist, painter and filmmaker/photographer, the new media and its evolving expressive forms serve as a great tool for new understanding, however I have also learned how its innate language has been manipulated in not so positive ways. Promotion and advertising have also had an important influence on my identity as an artist. Over the course of this semester, I have muddled with how to effectively express my ideas in this new media: to understand the fine line between eye candy that revels in pure gadgetry and conceptually fullfilling art that creatively utilizes this new tool that we have. Through the evolution of visual technology, we have created a new reality in a virtual world that is filled with new dilemmas involving honesty, privacy, control, and expression. This is a world where everyone wears a mask, and a “true artist” can no longer make choices without instantaneous critique and criticism. This project will aim to create an objective self portrait on the internet that stands as both a big brother surveillance tool to intimately study my whereabouts but also as a comment on the conceptual evolution of identity itself.

The terms of engagement:

I plan to use various text tools ( log book, map, notepad ) to document my life base on significant categories that I have defined. These include but are not limited to:

1. Interactions with People
2. Personal Thoughts
3. Owned Materials Used
4. Places I travel
5. Products that I Buy
6. Time I spend in each Location

I plan to use several video cameras, my laptop, an iphone, and a still digital camera to facilitate in accurate documentation of these categories of surveillance. The end date of the project is still unknown.

In order to view the website, you must have a specific password, which I must give to you. This key is an element that is unresolved.

I plan to attach this website to my other pages as well as link important elements of the documentation to Facebook pages when permission is granted.

Artist Research Project 3

Project 3 is an evolving video project that will address the way that new media is evolving to affect our understanding of work and the boundaries of distraction and reception.

The first artist I researched that is influencing the concepts behind my third project is Hasan Elahi.

Hasan Elahi is a professor at University of Maryland, where he is the director of Digital Cultures and Creativity in the Honors College. He has exhibited works in Centre Pompidou, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Tate Modern, and has appeared on the popular comedy central series, The Colbert Report. His works tackle simulated time, social implications of media and technology, borders, frontiers and transport systems.

Hasan Elahi was born in Bangladesh and raised in New York City and has U.S. citizenship. In June of 2002, Hasan was re-entrering the country through the Detroit airport when he was detained by the airport's Immigration and Naturalization Services. After waiting in a holding bay with other frightened detainees, Hasan was interrogated concerning his whereabouts on September 12, 2001, the day after the terrorist attack. They were also highly interested in a storage unit owned by Hasan in Florida, which was thought Hasan's cache of explosives.

An avid record keeper, Hasan pulled out his PDA and opened his calendar for September 12, and proceeded to describe where he was, what meetings he attended that day, etc. After cooperating Hasan was eventually released that day at the airport. However, a few weeks later, Hasan was again interrogated by an F.B.I. agent about his potential involvement with Al Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, etc. After he was told that he would have to check in periodically with the F.B.I. so they could keep him under close watch.

Hasan saw this as an opportunity to make a statement about the social implications of this type of surveillance. Hasan began recording all of his actions taking thousands of pictures, including the food he ate, places he walked, and even the bathrooms he has used. He has now taken the "pressure of surveillance" out of the hands of the F.B.I, and has begun to surveil himself. Now you can always find Hasan's G.P.S. location and his current whereabouts.

http://elahi.emd.edu/

http://trackingtransience.net/

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/167606/may-07-2008/hasan-elahi