Panopticism://

The theory of Panopticism was originally developed by french philosopher Michel Foucault, who based the idea on a Panopticon; a circular structured prison, which would allow the observer to observe all the prisoners at one time from a central watch tower. The Panopticon was designed by french philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who described it as "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example." (The Panopticon Writings, London: Verso, 1995, 29-95.) The design of these would mean that each prisoner would have their own space, which strips them off any form of communication and contact with other people, meaning that there would be no issues with spreading any illnesses and most importantly it would make them focus more on being observed 24 hours. The idea of the Panopticon was was oversee all the prisoners from one point, without allowing the prisoners themselves to know whether they are being observed, " He is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication" (Foucault, Michel Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the prison) prisoners will start to self regulate, and observe themselves without the need for guards. Summing it up, Foucault's theory derives from the concept of the Panopticon in the way that a Panoptic system would create subconscious discipline.

Although none of the Panopticons exist anymore due to it inhumane methods, Foucault's panopticism theory is evident in today's contemporary culture. One example of this is would be a typical retail working environment that I have experienced myself. " To induce the inmate a state of conscious and permanet visibility that assures the automatic funtioning of power" ( Foucault, Michel Discipline & Punish: The Brith of the prison, pg 82), CCTV's are everywhere in today's public environment. In the retail working environment for example, CCTV's are placed in every corner of the shop front, which is meant to be for safetly precautions. However, the footage can be viewed live from the stores manager's office, which would provide him with direct view and control over his employees in a way that the people working in the shop front will be aware that they're constantly being recorded and observed on CCTV therefore will act accordingly.

Another example of Panopticism in a retail working environment is the proces of logging in on all the computer / till systems. This would provide the manager will a record of alt the information on each employee, it'll give them an idea of their shop front activity aswell as a record of every single transaction. " Visibility is a trap" (//////), everyone's activity is constantly recorded while they're working, except for the store managers. However he again is under the panoptic eye in a way that the audit will make weekly inspections on the store manager. In a general working environment, there will always be a sense of hiararchy, which feeds into the panopticism theory.

Below://
A piece of video work I did in my first year that involves a time lapse of my work space over 6 hours during a Saturday afternoon. In some ways, I think this relates to the theories of Panopticism as I felt that I was self regulating and achieved more during that day simply because I knew that I was being observed. Interesting...
 

Manchester Visit 09://

A brief selection of photographs that document my visit to Manchester Urbis exhibition, Home Grown - The Story of Hip Hop as part of an introduction to our critical & theoretical studies.



I found the general layout of the exhibition quite well organized and the work was displayed in a consistent format. I particularly liked the bold type and layout of the text, which went well with the hip hop theme i guess.



Might not be able to tell on from the photo, but this was printed in a almost half tone like effect://


Some rather interesting documents from the early hip hop era, reflecting some nice layout/ editorial designs://



Some duo toned newsletter prints://






A few nice pieces of photograph displayed through light boxes. And look, I found a ninja!!!! (Refer to my 'What is good' project if you're confused)



A collection of record designs and their sleeve designs. Although not entirely my kinda thing, it still looked rather impressive as a collection; reflecting the importance of exhibition design and how to plan the layout of the place.