Living in Space - Kenny's show

This is a student show titled "Living in Space" by Kennith Kim. In Part 2 of the exhibition, the artist utilizes all basic element of art and the most generic materials, to demonstrate the dynamic between architecture, space and audience. Among the artworks displayed, I'm intrigued by this experiment on ants' space, to simulate the behavior-driven performance and to explore the dynamic between space and behavior. Too often when we think about space in terms of performance, we code on the users' behavior, rather than the space per se. Whether the relation between space and performance is a causality or interaction remains ambiguous. However, in this experiment, the ants contribute to demonstrate the purity of this ideally interactive relation, that the tunnel space of ants accurately reflect their behavior in return. At least what can be perceived is that ant-space is the result of the interaction that the ants have conducted in the space. What fascinates me is the engaging element of the space, in a sense that ants' tunneling creates the space, and the space effects the ants' behavior. In other words, ants create spaces while they are using it. Without any doubt, the symbolism of architecture goes beyond this.

When it comes to the space of human beings, the idea of this experiment echoes that of the Japanese architect Isozaki Arata, who never stops promoting the intimate relationship between the architecture and its audience. Unfortunately, human beings do not reserve the autonomy on their living space, which most likely happens to be designed and fixed. Another thought will be relating to Foucault's dilemma. On one side, people become more and more attached to all those multi-layered, specified and functional space, to gain a larger degree of mobility and convenience, since that is what the spaces is designed to be; on the other side, the space-users trade for these "goods" with freedom, private information and even safety, to be subjected to power. There is really no more "innocent space", since the ones are all interwined with economical and social attachments, with technologies as the stepping-stone in this case. Another inappropriate metaphor would be the microcosm represented in theater. With "the power" as the audience around us, we seemingly are the center of the world, subjected.

The Anonymous Power

The mechanism of power and control in our society never stops. This blog post is to address some key issues discussed in Foucault's article. In addition to the function of discipling which is already well recognized, the conversation between Barou, Perrot and Foucault brings up the deeper political meaning behind the design of Panopticon per se. It is apparent that an analogy can be set up between the prison and the city under the cameras system, both of which being a model of political organization under a centralized observation. Here, it is the sovereign power that matters. Through the scholars' discussion, it seems to me that Bentham, the inventor of this surveillance design, considers it as the innovation needed for the "easy and effective exercise of power", based on the assumption of an existing power structure. In this case, both spaces in prison and city become specified and functional, due to a series of social problems arise with the new century of social orders. In our case, all sorts of the cameras arrangements are subjected to control. In another word, the control and discipline of population is considered prior to anything else. The population, or the community does not really contribute to the decision-making process, and this is because they lose their rights of participation at the point that they are recognized as the passive side. Just as Betham acclaims that, "he invented a technology of power designed to solve the problems of surveillance", to make it easier and more effective.

Introductiton to Lancaster Surveillance Project

This blog is set up to record the progression of an art history seminar at Franklin & Marshall College in the spring semester, 2010.

This seminar involves students in curatorial practice from two inter-related perspectives. The first is the "hands-on" work essential to the professional operations of museums and galleries: researching objects, doing conditions reports, accessioning objects, learning how to handle and pack objects, issues of lighting and display, planning exhibitions, writing wall labels and catalogue entries, developing floor plans.

The second is through the critical examination of curation in the context of recent debates concerning the function of museums in the 21st century; the role of the curator and the exhibition, the relationship of objects and settings (museums, galleries, non-traditional spaces), objects (including but not limited to fine art) and the significance of their "display."

Many of the discussions are based on the surveillance issue in Lancaster and the seminar will culminate into an exhibition that aims at presenting this issue to the College and the communities.