The Watchers
July 11 - October 12, 2019
Trevor Paglen, Symbology, Volume IV (detail), 2013. 20 fabric patches, framed. Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York. [Image Description: Two circular fabric patches on a black background. On the left, a circular patch features an eagle superimposed over a flag with a rocket in takeoff at its center, with the names of astronauts “Creighton, Casper, Mullane, Hilmers, Thuot” around the edge. On the right, a blue oval patch features a blue scarecrow layered over a full moon. At the base of the patch, the word “Scarecrow” is embroidered in white on a red background.]
The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation is pleased to present The Watchers, an exhibition that focuses on the multi-faced nature of surveillance and privacy in contemporary society, and the subsequent production and obscuration of information and news. Artists in the exhibition include Vito Acconci, American Artist, Elaine Byrne, Lieven De Boeck, Anne Deleporte, Hasan Elahi, Karin Ferrari, Orkhan Huseynov, Pedro Lasch, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Arnold Mesches, Trevor Paglen, and Amie Siegel.
Opening on Thursday, July 11th, The Watchers is loosely organized as a narrative about surveillance, presenting examples of stalking, sousveillance, fortified borders, facial recognition technology, as well as proposals for World Trade Center Memorials in cities across the world. Artworks featured in the exhibition that cite oppressive uses of tracking devices are juxtaposed with artistic manipulations of surveillance that model political agency and resistance. The exhibition sets the stage for dialogue examining the relationship between the technologies used to produce surveillance and the construction of news media.
The Watchers reveal gaps and blind spots where our individual and collective senses of privacy have been disrupted, pointing to instances when knowledge that ought to be publicly accessible has been obscured. It is the second installment in a two-year series of exhibitions titled Revolutionary Cycles. Each of the six installments is organized thematically, to consider how labor, gender, the media, surveillance, and family shape our collective experience in the current political climate.
The exhibition is curated by Sara Reisman, Executive and Artistic Director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.
Installation views of “The Watchers” at The 8th Floor, July 2019. Photos by Julia Gillard. Courtesy of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.