Sorting Daemons: Big Brother’s Art-World Gaze
Cheryl Sourkes Virtual Toronto, Cam Cities 2001
George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 propelled terms like “doublespeak,” “newspeak” and “Big Brother” into our lexicon, terms that crystallized fear of government control at the time of publication—and even inspired, decades later, a few all-seeing reality TV shows. Whether it’s Orwell’s clairvoyant prose or the uncanny manifestation of our times that it represents, the author’s narratives of surveillance and power continue to resound in our culture. These themes also ground the group exhibition “Sorting Daemons: Art, Surveillance Regimes and Social Control” at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. In this exhibition, an international group of artists explores the culture of surveillance in the 21st century, addressing the socio-political and aesthetic dimensions of this ominous gaze. Dave Kemp’s Data Collection project, for instance, probes attitudes towards circulation of personal information in an array of identity card “portraits,” while David Rokeby’s video Sorting Daemon simulates the process by which this information is collected and manipulated. Rounded out with projects by Brenda Goldstein, Antonia Hirsch, Tran T. Kim-Trang, Germaine Koh and Ian Verchere, Arnold Koroshegyi, Ruthann Lee, Michael Lewis, Jill Magid, Walid Ra’ad, Kathleen Ritter, Tom Sherman, Cheryl Sourkes and John Watt, “Sorting Daemons” promises to reverse the gaze and open our eyes. (Queen’s University, Kingston ON)
Dave Kemp Data Collection 2009
Jill Magid Evidence Locker: Trust 2004 Courtesy the artist and Yvon Lambert New York/Paris
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