I went to see TheUpgrade at the Eyebeam gallery in Chelsea, featuring a presentation of three pieces developed at ITP on the subject of surveillance. Interesting emphasis in the discussion, away from the well-trodden areas of politics, privacy, security, etc. and instead exploring the joy experienced by those doing the surveilling.
The three pieces were in(security) by 31 down, Little Feet by, uh, Little Feet and GSN (Generative Social Networking by Christian Croft and Andrew Schneider.
I was struck by the theatricality of the presentations – two of the pieces were presented as a marketing pitch to an imaginary audience of customers, and two relied heavily on PowerPoint. After 16 years in cubicle-land, it was funny to encounter PowerPoint driven pitches in the context of an art installation.
