With the unveiling of Moleskine’s The Detour Book, a peek into the notebooks of more than 250 of today’s most creative thinkers, our culture has welcomed yet another artistic method of voyeurism into our lives – and coffee tables. Certainly art has played a role in voyeurism throughout history, yet over the last decade, the Internet has [not surprisingly] morphed from supporting actor into a leading lady of curiosity and exhibitionism. Below, an exploration of art, design and online voyeurism – and how the Internet is shaping the future of our society.
To be fair, the term ‘voyeurism‘ is a stretch. The Internet is hardly a window into our private lives, and if it were, today’s society seems perfectly comfortable engaging in activities with the blinds wide open. Sites like Post Secret and We Feel Fine illustrate a collective culture that wants little more than to be heard, seen and validated. Both web sensations have spawned books where users anonymously submit their feelings to be analyzed, projected and – surprisingly enough – published. Yet can we really call it voyeurism if the participants are willing?
Not likely. Instead, it seems the Internet has spawned a generation of exhibitionists. From the displaying of heartfelt sketches to the contents of our refrigerator, we’re actively engaged in participatory voyeurism –sacrificing our privacy for a continuous stream of validation. In other words, we’re living in a proverbial Philip Johnson creation, an idea not lost in the art community. Nor the photography one.
Yet what is to be said for true digital voyeurism? Twenty years ago, a quick hop on the subway might mean running into an old girlfriend. Today, it could mean finding a new one - with or without your permission. Which begs the question: can privacy be invaded if anonymity is in tact? In a modern-day Sophia Calle’s Address Book, online art installation Anthroposts (created by digital artist Noah Pedrini) collects hundreds of sticky notes from around the world, displaying its contents in a hauntingly interactive fashion. Your grocery list could be scattered among the many. So could your phone number.
It’s an ethical dilemma that has been explored ad nauseam. In a recent Tate Modern exhibition, photography curator Simon Baker suggests that society has always had voyeuristic tendencies but now, the Internet is enabling those tendencies. “The exhibition is meant to be a critical look at the issues that surround voyeurism and surveillance. We are raising questions about boundaries, about technology. There are serious moral questions about who’s looking, how they’re looking and why they’re looking,” Baker says.
A recent study might provide insight into Baker’s thoughts. Surveying 2000 Facebook users revealed that most are actively engaged in the social network for little more than “social surveillance,” or virtual people-watching. Of course, the Internet cannot be blamed for our human’s thirst for curiosity, just as the camera’s invention in the 1800s cannot be marked as the beginning of surveillance. After all, shoes equipped with hidden cameras were established long before the term “web” stopped referencing little more than the day’s work of a spider.
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