Some people are constantly playing up the down side to video surveillance. Bruce Schneier is one example, and I have commented on his blog many times about the fact that image capture is just like any other data capture — the use and abuse of surveillance depends on the operator and governance.

I guess you could call my point a “don’t blame the tool” position. However, I admit am not a fan of the “guns don’t kill people” argument. I think the saying that a tool can not be used to kill is absolutist and therefore an illogical statement. I would only agree to a statement that said guns can be used kill people. Thus, I would agree with a statement that surveillance can be used to violate people’s rights, but that does not mean all surveillance is a violation.

Right, all that being said, I really just wanted to give an example of surveillance as a form of art. There are other examples, including the time-lapse project in London (which I find boring and trite — like watching paint dry), but this one is particularly well done.

I suppose I should give a disclaimer, Peter is a former mentor of mine and I really enjoyed the work I did for him (information security for digital artists!) many years ago.

Oxford Project URLs: http://oxfordproject.com and http://welcomebooks.com/theoxfordproject/

In 1984, Peter Feldstein set out to photograph every resident of his town, Oxford, Iowa
(pop. 676). Twenty years later, he did it again. But this time those same residents did more
than pose. With extraordinary honesty, they shared their memories, fantasies, failures,
secrets and fears with writer Stephen G. Bloom. The result is a riveting collection of
personal stories and portraits that tell much more than the tale of one small Midwestern
town. Because beneath Oxford’s everyday surface, lives a complex and wondrous
community that embodies the American spirit.

History of the future will be a study of surveillance databases, and art (including poetry of course) is already derived from new forms of analysis of these repositories of data. Peter has done an amazing job as a pioneer in this field.