In the recent Winter issue of Colors Magazine, there is an article on the art of surveillance that is quite intriguing. The featured work belongs to Hasan Elahi who, in 2002, was stopped by the FBI at the Detroit airport and questioned about his whereabouts on September 11th. After no incriminating information was produced, they released him with the command to “check in from time to time”. This was clearly a red letter act of discrimination and a naive attempt by the government to uphold the illusion of “homeland security” against many an unseen “terrorist” and fabricated threat – often at the expense of humiliating innocent US citizens. As a result, Elahi set out to be one step ahead of the government and decided to inform them of his whereabouts – 24/7. With a hacked cell phone strapped to his ankle working as a GPS tracker, Elahi has been recording his every move and documenting it on his website. Bathrooms, airports, meals, and even financial transactions have been uploaded to his site and, in the case of photographs, have been arranged into the most colorful array of mosaic imagery. If you haven’t checked out Colors Magazine, or if you missed reading issue 75 entitled “Cease Fear”, I highly suggest you pick up a copy. Though the issue isn’t entirely about art, it is about information. And, next to art, knowledge is the most beautiful thing in the world.
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