Surveillance State ; Anarchy Print

Surveillance State / Anarchy series, is a graphic print on canvas , created during the peak of the pandemic, when the artist was in his room, contemplating the concept, and was navigating with the concept of time, space , harmony; the necessary aesthetics addressed by all artists. This led to a mosaic / puzzle like structure, inspired by the idea of a zoom setting. The first two developments before this work was the individual compartmentalized lifestyle boxes, to the smaller variations of the zoom series. This work is thus a build up , and necessary to be shared with its unique quality of firstly aiming to create harmony , but left with another learnt perspective by the artist. The idea of boxed up , saturated living, as experienced in the artist own household living, where it is in an orderly high rise flat. The idea is one of universality, that in the structure of a city, many living occupants end up staying in high rise buildings. Everyone stays in somewhat similar rooms, with one or two differences. This makes it easier for people to locate where you stay, for relatives who are visiting, for food and parcel delivery, for police to identify suspected people who have broken the law. This also implies the very ease in which, brought to current day standards, our lives on the internet. Is it not so that the internet has enable better interaction, of shared experiences like those on social media, Facebook, twitter, Tiktok, zoom. This has made an enormous amount of data being collected, which has been a topic for data scandals such as Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, whereby the data of users were used to influence key political electorates, and the election of President Trump, through targeted advertising. Fast-forwarding to today, and we are seeing other technological companies and organization getting caught in this same scandal of data breach. From the tech trials of big American technology companies in 2018 till today 2020 (July trials) ; Amazon , Google, Apple and Facebook, who were questioned for their use of data to amass such influence over society, to eliminating competition ( Facebook purchasing Instagram ) for monopoly over the market, the companies have sacrificed the data of the common people, for the concentration of financial and informative edge over their competitors. Selling the information to third party advertisers without the permission of the common person, increasing their surveillance for their companies growth, is a protrusion of people privacy. The very lifestyles we inhabit, is monitored with what we search for, and brings about concern, that any person can be researched upon, and be manipulated with the data. As more people are using the internet due to covid-19, it should be called for that more people's data is at risk , and should be protected. How and by who? As we know of it, the United states is currently having wars with China, and it has also brought forth the tensions and possible conspiracies of propaganda with the Chinese counterparts. The technological companies that are Chinese , such as Zoom, Huawei and Tiktok, have also been caught by the escalation of geopolitical divides. Zoom for instance, had a rising surge in popularity for business and family meetings during Covid 19, however, was quick to be put down as a surveillance tool, similar for Huawei and Tiktok. The United States has labeled and place Chinese Tech companies as spying tool for the Chinese government in Beijing. If corporate organisations are to be kept in check by the authorities, who are the people to keep the relevant and same authorities in check, is also an absolutely important question to answer ourselves. The likeness of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange were crucial in this undertaking of the individual's importance in doing so, to say that relevant groups are going overboard, in dehumanizing basic human rights. It is totally a grey area, where the individual is right to challenge the authorities to an overboard act, (e.g US helicopter killing civilians as part of the Iraq war) . This point of the importance of the individual is losing ground to big organisations. Be it in the private or public sector. Other examples can be seen in Hong Kong, where a bill was passed in 30 june to arrest individuals and groups who pose a threat to national security of Beijing. It is a topic for discussion as part of this surveillance state/ Anarchy series of print works that Keane has developed. The idea of society imposing more security , especially so , during the corona-virus lock-down, sees individuals in america also questioning the very basic act of wearing a mask. Is it an edict of the government, or is it a choice, for the liberal democracy in which the country was founded upon. America faces the worst cases of pandemic, where hundreds and thousands of people were found to have the virus. This has brought philosophers into discussions, in bringing up what society needs, to survive this global crisis, from the physical lock-down, to economic recession . Such discussions coming from Slavoj Zizek, Giorgio Agamben, Gerald Delanty, Carl Schmitt, and propositions on how nations have been navigating this new situation, of conflicting dialectical reasoning on the global pandemic. On the one hand , Utilitarian values of majority over the minority, where herd immunity is key to resolving this issue, to Kantian aesthetics of valuing every individual's lives as society moves as a collective body, saving not just young lives, but also the old ones. And much to the extreme, libertarian values , of personal freedom of choice, to not follow these new rules quickly implemented , as a reactionary hopeful resolution to quickly solving this problem. There is a sense of far right nationalistic ideals being in full swing, toward punishing individuals who do not obey the rules. Singapore for instance imposes a fine of 300$ for breaking circuit breaker / lockdown measures, is it necessary ? Probably. But how much so are policy makers right in imposing new measures of surveillance. Such as ticketing and registering entry into a shopping mall and eatery, to the monitoring of every individual's health data, for the sake of pandemic. Giorgio Agamben has commented on the state of exception, defined as being a special condition judicial order is suspended, due to a state of emergency / crisis (pandemic) These situations executive law overrides basic laws, and other norms can be violated. When brought to the extreme example, we are reminded of authorities going about implementing stricter laws to remove minority groups, for the interest of the state. Such examples can be seen in the holocaust, whereby the Nazi's placed the blame of economic recession and jobs onto minority groups like the Jews, stripping them to bare life(Aradau and Van Munster 2009: 689), a dehumanizing of basic human rights, to pursue the national interest. The other example would be the United States position in the Middle East, while collaborating with the Pakistani Central Government, under the given name of "War on Terror" . The individuals in the FATA region of Pakistan, are dehumanized, as the state continues its attempt to clean out terrorist groups. Whoever, be it a terrorist or civilian, is removed of every human right in these cases. The idea of nations implementing necessary rules should be kept in check, by individual groups outside the public sector, is a proposition to prevent this overboard of abuse in corporate and governmental bodies is the overall outlook to this work, which is a turning point to create public awareness into keeping the relevant systems in check and to be watchful in questioning whatever new rules posed to the new world we are progressing toward. The implementation of this tight controlling view of a controlled state , leads to the political left extremists, where by they vandalize established surfaces in a reactionary behavior. The second title to this work entitled " Anarchy " , reminded the artist, of works such as Delacroix Liberty leading the people, whereby revolutionaries see the breakdown of ideological wars between the establishment and individuals, into a physical event, in the hopes of establishing a new order. The work "Anarchy", includes satirical graffiti inspired drawings, where a pink eye is located as a symbol of Surveillance, and words like hoax and Anarchy , sorts to emphasize on the radical leftist action, of clashing with the establishment, following the same pattern as did the painter Delacroix, may have portrayed. The brutality of this scenario can be found in another great work by Picasso, "Guernica" which appears to conflict with the liberty painting. To have conflict, people will suffer, and much destruction is to be felt throughout this period in time, but to arrive at an answer is almost inevitable that opposing forces are necessary for the regulation and implementation of new world of the next era. Upon reading Davide Giordanengo's commentary on the state of exception, it appears that society may be once again returning to that same path took by our predecessors. He has shown how the state of exception has drastically altered contemporary politics. From the purging of German Jews, to the establishing of basic human rights to people across the world after World War II, with the West being ever more fearful of the growing vengeful spirit felt in the middle east and radical fundamentalist. Securitization in a postcolonial setting such as that in France, due to the cinema shootings and stabbings, resulting in blurring of lines between external and internal threat. Indistinguishable between what is public and private melds into one entity. Judith Butler (2006) would suggest that bare life is closer found among racial boundaries , both for the Black and Arab/Muslim community. The immediate cause would be revoking citizenship, which can be seen in Trump's Pro American policies, which is a step taken towards the breakdown of diversified, free society. The recent killing of George Floyd which resulted in protest against systemic racism is a very recent tell-tale sign of certain groups being marginalized, and Trump's reactionary stand of dominance over the rowdy crowd, shows the state's increasing presence in everyday citizen's lives, and the disappearance of the individual's identity.

Print:Giclee on Photo Paper

Size:12 W x 8 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:17.25 W x 13.25 H x 1.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.