Exhibit examines ambiguous interpretations of privacy, ownership in modern life
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: Life & Style
For a world with such technological demands, the lines between security and privacy are often skewed.
In the examination of public domain converging with personal ownership, art faculty members Tom Hapgood and Bethany Springer will present the exhibit "Private Property" in an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. tomorrow at the Fine Arts Center Gallery. The exhibit first unveiled its work last Wednesday and will continue to display its collection until March 14.
The exhibit incorporates a mixture of video, digital media and sculpture materials, such as timber, in representing new patterns in privacy and ownership.
One of the featured works is a traditional mobile adorned with computer tags that interact with an antenna, for which Hapgood attributes inspiration to Alexander Calder, whose mobiles are featured in Mullins library. Instead of casting shadows on a wall or ceiling, every time the mobile turns, it projects different images of people from around the world onto a screen, as they upload their photos into the system.
The four tags attached to the mobile trigger four different projections in religion, government, privacy and big business, Hapgood said.
"It deals with the controversy of technology," he said. "As these tags are put into more products and put into passports, drivers' licenses and various things, there are a lot of people worried that the government or big business is going to track them and follow what we buy, what we do, where we go and all that. And, of course, it's not really happening yet, but it's just really a worry on the part of the privacy of people."
Other works include "Identify Friend or Foe," "Stick it to Dad" and "Raw Sewage," which is a video projection of sewage with seedy background music that "is a statement on the social and psychological effects of unrestricted access of pornography that kids today have, essentially likening pornography to sewage," Hapgood said.
Hapgood has taught Web design, animation and typography at the UA for the past three years. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in photo journalism and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, he said.
In the examination of public domain converging with personal ownership, art faculty members Tom Hapgood and Bethany Springer will present the exhibit "Private Property" in an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. tomorrow at the Fine Arts Center Gallery. The exhibit first unveiled its work last Wednesday and will continue to display its collection until March 14.
The exhibit incorporates a mixture of video, digital media and sculpture materials, such as timber, in representing new patterns in privacy and ownership.
One of the featured works is a traditional mobile adorned with computer tags that interact with an antenna, for which Hapgood attributes inspiration to Alexander Calder, whose mobiles are featured in Mullins library. Instead of casting shadows on a wall or ceiling, every time the mobile turns, it projects different images of people from around the world onto a screen, as they upload their photos into the system.
The four tags attached to the mobile trigger four different projections in religion, government, privacy and big business, Hapgood said.
"It deals with the controversy of technology," he said. "As these tags are put into more products and put into passports, drivers' licenses and various things, there are a lot of people worried that the government or big business is going to track them and follow what we buy, what we do, where we go and all that. And, of course, it's not really happening yet, but it's just really a worry on the part of the privacy of people."
Other works include "Identify Friend or Foe," "Stick it to Dad" and "Raw Sewage," which is a video projection of sewage with seedy background music that "is a statement on the social and psychological effects of unrestricted access of pornography that kids today have, essentially likening pornography to sewage," Hapgood said.
Hapgood has taught Web design, animation and typography at the UA for the past three years. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in photo journalism and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, he said.
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