Lecture 1 - Panopticism

Panopticism - Institutions and Institutional Power.

Ways in which society controls its subjects. Institiutions and the powers they have to control our thought.
Physical // hospitals // university //
Social // family // relationships //

Our ideas as artists and designers. Before we create //  how we get there, where we live, who we are determines what we create. We are produced by society.

Understand the principles of panopticon - metaphor // social control
Michel Foucault // modern disciplinary society
Disciplinary society

How society makes as useful and productive. Socially. Controls our bodies.

The panopticon.
- A building. 1791. Same principles of control as our society.
- Michel Foucault // 1984
Activist.

- Disciplinr & Punish. The birth of the prison.
Survey the rise of institutional power // prison // modern prison.

The great confinement.
Foucault - Old society - madness was socially different. madmen lead an easy life. socially incorporate. Part of society. times changed. 1600's. Social attitude changed. Rise of religion // moral attitude. Not part of the norm - those who were not useful. Couldn't work.
Houses of correction - if you werent socially productive you were thrown in. Anyone who didnt operate in the way society would want you to. insane // criminals // poor // single mothers // lazy
- People were put to work - threat of being beaten. made to work. Force them to be productive.
- Gradually, houses of correction seemed an error // ended up corrupting people more. Backfired.
The birth of the asylum.
- Insane separated from the sane. Normal // abnormal //
- Social status - judge who is right or wrong.
- Inmates are controlled in different ways. Not forced to work // treated like children, if they do well they are rewarded. Foucault sees this as an important shift.
- Foucault, society realises there are better ways to control society. easier to control people mentally not physically. continued today.

Knowledge.
- Medicine. psychiatry.
- Mental form of control - represents shift in the way in which you control or take responsibility of your own actions.

Those who were abnormal - punished // humiliated in public. The pillory. Punishment didnt correct or train // showed other people if you were not normal you would be humiliated.
BRUTAL. Guy fawkes. physical torture. - Make an example of him. Show that the King is powerful. Lesson to everyone.

Disciplinary society + disciplinary power.
- Shift from physical to mental punishment. Society is finding new ways to control Society. Not about power or to show how powerful you are - its about making you useful. controlling thoughts and behaviors.
- Jeremy Bentham's design for Panopticon. 1791
Design for a building. Foucault writes about it. 1970. Round building, Bentham thought it could be functional // school // hospital //  prison.
- Spaces on outside of building is a cell - for instance - divided by wall. each cell has a window. sun shines on prisoner. Middle of Panopticon - central tower where you would keep prison guards.

Presidio modelo, Cuba.

 

Tate britain used to be prison // Millbank.
Modern versions.
Panopticon important for Foucault, each prisoner is seperated can constantly see watch tower - being surveyed - on display but can't see other prisoners. They don't know when they're being watched. Tower in centre wasn't lit. So they could watch people but prisoners wouldnt know if they were watched. Not knowing if you're being watched - piculiar effect. Gives you the idea that you're always being watched - if you think youre being watched you behave cause you don't know when youll be watched or caught out.
- Building allows power.
- Eventually if you think youre always being watched // you dont need bards on cells as // they mentally control themselves and keep themselves diciplines.
- ended up not needing guards as if you were a prisoner you felt you were being watched even if you werent. controlling yourselves.
- Controlling modern society.
- Panopticon // think of it as a school.
- Builds internal idea of responsibility. Mental control. Foucault called it a machine for power.

Panopticism.
- Major effect to induce in the inmate .... QUOTE. Foucault
- Surrey Asylum - portrait. Panopticons became labs. Lab rats. measure performance.
- Scrutiny.
- Make people productive.
- Superviser to experiment on subjects.

Lecture theatre designed to make you more productive. Cant talk to everyone. Richard can see everyone. We are aware he can see us - that knowledge makes us more productive. Physically sat there. forced to sit here and make notes...
Makes us more useful.

- Reforms prisoners
- helps to treat
- instruct
- inform
- study
- supervise
- helps put beggars and idlers to work.

Makes you control yourself.

Foucault - emergance of a new mode of discipline. better to correct and train people. make them do what we want. Surveillance of bodies. Panopticism is not just about punishment its about making people to train themselves in the way you want them to be trained.

Modern workplace.
Always visible // could be caught out // elements of panopticism.
Open plan office. Modern. Not just trendy design an efficient system for bosses of office. Allows boss to see if anyone is skiving. You can be seen by boss - so you don't mess about as you know you might be watched. Effect of making you work harder. Institutional power.

The office.
Film crew follows boss of office. you see the footage. documentary. As boss knows hes being filmed - he modifies and changes his behavior as he knows people will see his actions. So he acts totally different. That is panopticism. you are modifying your own behaviour. you act as you think a normal person would.
Our behaviour is being controlled by panopticism.
- Being watched
- registered
- performance is monitored by grade
- Discipline

Not acting as i would if i was relaxing.
This happens all the time.
Library. SHHHHHH. dont talk. no one tells you to be quite - you control yourself. Art galleries too. You control your own behavior in the social situations. Gallery - behavior is controlled. social norm. correcting yourself.

Old ND studio.. glass booth for course leader. Control.
Modern bars. Open plan. Not intimate or social - instead you know youre being watched. less atmosphere. youre on display. cant make space you're own. Makes space easier to control.

Panopticism. - CCTV. google maps. Richards house - his knowledge of his house is known to everyone else. remnded in different ways that our lives are recorded. - starts to build in us the fear of being caught out. we act like socially responsible citizens.
Pentoville Prison.
Not just physical space. // register //  panoptic sign that youre attended.
relies on you knowing youre being watched.
Richard can pull up all out records - can measure us against us. so knowledge of myself is transferred to richard. whaaaaaaaat. Cant do the same to him.
Richard also exposed to panopticism.. Each member of staff has a file. Richard doesn't know whats in his file. Seen it - but doesn't know whats in it. Like theyre logging is activity. Want's to know but would need to take legal action to find out. doesnt challenge it as it makes it look like hes got something to hide.
LCA // CCTV cameras. more than 20. constantly recorded. everywhere.
cameras not hidden as then theyre are more effective - visible reminder. point is to not catch people out but instruct that they need to behave.
speed cameras without cameras. visible reminders so you dont speed.
Infostrcuture IT guys. - can check anyone computer or desktop. Could check everything thats on your network // personal files. every website youve been on can be pulled up. damnnnn.
Monitor key strokes per minute. ZOMG. whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
ID cards. visible indicator of status. student // blue. Richard // red.
Staff // clock in and out. hours are monitored.richard refused to do it in the past. now he swipes. no one made him do it. but he does it.

not just mental control - direct relationship between mental and physical control. power relationship controls our bodies. forces use to physcically do something.
Causes us to become DOCILE BODIES. Wont rebel.
obedient.
self correcting.
self monitoring.

Make you work harder.
Discipline techniques. Health // gym - modern idea. being healthy. not just about keeping people healthy - makes people healthy - so they can work harder.
People live longer - so you have to work longer. side effect of making people healthier.
Visible reminders that your body is on display. adverts // no one makes you go to the gym but you do it yourself you make yourself anxious. aha I went to the gym this morning...

TV is almost like a metaphor for the panopticon.
Foucault + power.
- where there is power there is resistance.
- exercise of power relies on there being the capacity for power to be resisted.
- power is not a thing or a capacity people have - relationship between different individuals and  groups. only exists when it is being exercised.

Let someone have the power. You assume they have.
1984 // john hurt. // richard burton.

Facebook = Panoptic.
everything you post is gonna be watched. so you dont act like yourself - you act like a performance of yourself. you have a power.

vito acconci - following piece. 1969.
Art. ways in which creative projects respond to panopticism. stands outside gallery and when someone comes out he follows them. stalks them.
illusion.