Internet narcissism, corporate surveillance and the manipulation of social media algorithms are touch points for Cinopticon – Giselle Stanborough’s immersive performance installation in which audiences see their reflection in unpredictable ways.
Cinopticon contemporises Foucault’s theory of the ‘panopticon’, a model of surveillance where the few watch and control the many. Today, with technology at our fingertips, we watch each other. In this installation, various elements are abstracted through a prism of self-reflection. At the heart of its sensory quest, Cinopticon probes what it means to both be watched and watch others.
Searchlights, sculptural forms, colossal wall diagrams and mirrored digital surfaces reflect the performative experience of social media platforms. As the subject and object of her own system of visual scrutiny, Stanborough is the ghost in her own machine. She haunts its house of mirrors, trapped as a digital apparition at the bottom of the well.
During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown Cinopticon was made available through various online activations.
Cinopticon contemporises Foucault’s theory of the ‘panopticon’, a model of surveillance where the few watch and control the many. Today, with technology at our fingertips, we watch each other. In this installation, various elements are abstracted through a prism of self-reflection. At the heart of its sensory quest, Cinopticon probes what it means to both be watched and watch others.
Searchlights, sculptural forms, colossal wall diagrams and mirrored digital surfaces reflect the performative experience of social media platforms. As the subject and object of her own system of visual scrutiny, Stanborough is the ghost in her own machine. She haunts its house of mirrors, trapped as a digital apparition at the bottom of the well.
During the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown Cinopticon was made available through various online activations.
Curatorial Essay:
Cinopticon
