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The audio installation entitled I need your attention was presented at the ‘Global Control and Censorship’ exhibition at the Karlsruhe Museum of Contemporary Art and Technology (ZKM) in Germany.
The work takes the form of an announcement consisting of two different sections heard around half an hour apart so that visitors are present in both phases of the work while visiting the exhibition. Both in german and english
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The following two phrases can be heard:
“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. We would like you inform you that you are no longer under electronic surveillance”.
(half an hour later)
“Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. We inform you that you are under electronic surveillance”.
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One phrase follows the other, creating gaps both in surveillance and security. Visitors come to realise that they are potential perpetrators (of theft, vandalism, and so on) but are also left exposed, outside of the control zone, due to the lack of officially mandated and sanctioned surveillance.
Language exists and develops as a structural element of culture. Its ability to represent the world may be viewed as a transparent, innocent thing, but deep down we need to recognise that it is a form of domination; as an impersonal / invisible source of discourse-generation capable of attributing prestige and persuasive power; capable of imposing ideas, thoughts and experiences on the individual.
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