Monitor

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Monitor Poster, KAG

Monitor is a group video-installation project produced by UBC Okanagan BFA students that examines issues of surveillance while one is connected to the internet. With the emergence of mass surveillance in various countries around the world, along with our own Bill C-51 here in Canada, our freedom of speech and privacy rights as citizens are at risk. The works created investigate the ethics surrounding government and corporate access to personal data.

Do you ever feel as though you’re being watched? This question may bring to mind “Big Brother” from George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, or perhaps some of the dystopian films or fiction novels of more recent years, and now, a new group video-installation project produced by UBC Okanagan BFA students offers a local perspective on this theme.

The exhibition is entitled Monitor and the artists included examine issues of surveillance, specifically when one is online. It features fourteen videos and video projections that appear on screens mounted throughout the darkened Front project space of the Kelowna Art Gallery for visitors to explore.

The exhibition’s organizer comments that “with the emergence of mass surveillance in various countries around the world, along with our own Bill C-51 here in Canada, our freedom of speech and privacy rights as citizens are at risk. Everyday internet users can take all the precautions provided to keep their data private on various social networks, but are still vulnerable to being hacked/stalked, or having their identities stolen.”

The works created by the UBCO students in the show investigate the ethics surrounding government and corporate access to personal data. The video pieces are short – all under 10 minutes in length, including one that clocks in at a brief 52-second loop. The videos range from one that captures the experience of someone venturing into the world of “The Darknet” online, to another that depicts how companies are able to target and track people’s movements online and uncover a disturbing amount of information about them.