On the evening of April 20, as part of the Whitney Biennial, Laura Poitras and Jake Appelbaum did a Surveillance Teach-In. A video of Jake’s talk with Bill Binney is online here.
Along with the talk, there were performances by Stimulate. Some people in line for the museum were singled out to their bags searched, were asked invasive questions and were held in a detaining area. In this space, they heard recordings of a calm voice telling them things like “fear keeps us safe”. They could also see a woman asleep in a room, being observed by people dressed in black, speaking into radios. Every five minutes, an observation about the room and the people watching her was recorded on a chalkboard outside the room. This is the part Nadya and I were involved in.
full set of photos:
