https://circuitsofsandandwater.com Circuits of Sand and Water Fri, 09 Sep 2022 00:21:40 +0000 https://circuitsofsandandwater.com en https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/Home Wed, 10 Aug 2022 19:43:42 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/Home Starved of human connection in the midst of a pandemic, a woman starts studying neighbours from her window. She wishes to understand who they are in the privacy of their homes. Accompany her on nightly walks and hear her thoughts as she pauses at windows to other lives. * Headphones recommended for optimal experience.Start ︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/About Wed, 10 Aug 2022 19:13:17 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/About Circuits of Sand and Water brings up questions about privacy amid great interest and concern around artificial intelligence.&nbsp;Many of the technologies we rely on are powered by data extracted from bodies. We offer up information everyday, caught between animal instincts and digital impulses. This project uses fiction, binaural audio, and slow video to depict the machine gaze on us. It parses through the shades of comfort, obsession, apathy, and vulnerability we experience online. The story’s protagonist simulates intimacy with her neighbours via digital surveillance. Her objectionable approach creates a slew of metaphors for how invisible trackers capture and process our data. She articulates a wager we’ve all made: to accept subtle violations of privacy in the name of connection and progress. https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/Story Tue, 23 Aug 2022 19:34:09 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/Story https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/1-Shadow-Theatre Sat, 30 Jul 2022 20:22:11 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/1-Shadow-Theatre 1. Shadow Theatre "Blink, and the city morphs into shadow theatre, holding backlit shapes within." <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f4a63b4378fffb84219895caa815e7845e4e30fc5855d00bf15936e932464d84/020.jpg" data-mid="150108824" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f4a63b4378fffb84219895caa815e7845e4e30fc5855d00bf15936e932464d84/020.jpg" /> Our story begins with a reference to shadow theatre - an ancient storytelling technique in which a screen separates performer and audience. It speaks to how screens can simultaneously create conditions for privacy and exposure. In the woods, we use sheaths of fabric to feel safe. At home, the separation between public and private takes the form of walls, windows, and doors. The screens on our devices have become new thresholds to peer into our lives. &nbsp; ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/2-Watching-Ants Fri, 02 Sep 2022 16:02:09 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/2-Watching-Ants 2. Watching Ants “The languid pleasure of watching is granted without question to few, benevolent eyes.” <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7f6e1c57bd82e5b92662432ffdfa4d719c895acb2bc504f8bd71ae055e720e36/010.jpg" data-mid="151940596" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7f6e1c57bd82e5b92662432ffdfa4d719c895acb2bc504f8bd71ae055e720e36/010.jpg" />In this scene, a child towers over a colony of ants to underscore the scale at which surveillance technologies operate. She later notes how some adults are entrusted with watching over her. Transnational companies collect data to improve in-house products, whereas smaller apps sell user data to third parties. In these models, innovators become default guardians of our data. But this innovation lottery places no imperative on winners to invest in the slower, painstaking work of data protection. ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/3-Still-Life Fri, 02 Sep 2022 16:22:34 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/3-Still-Life 3. Still Life “They remind me of a still-life composition, painting in the intangible spirit of our time.” <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5558831057c90bca6d46b255d521634e66fa9faa97f5e0d137e5ee9fec80a50/030.jpg" data-mid="151941768" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5558831057c90bca6d46b255d521634e66fa9faa97f5e0d137e5ee9fec80a50/030.jpg" />Still life paintings are used to discern traits about the era they were created in. In this vein, I try to gauge what this moment could reflect in the future. Like any new technology, AI sparks conversation about society being on the brink of utopia and disaster. It’s impossible to know where we will land, but our protagonist pinpoints a special feature of our time: we offer up troves of data to train technologies, so they may evolve on their own. ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/4-Three-Specimens Fri, 09 Sep 2022 00:13:43 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/4-Three-Specimens 4. Three Specimens “Their refusal to use curtains only fans my yearning.” <img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4873e744a3ee1e2eb1a396f62a9e32f73ef2e56ded346caf1b394676757ff6ec/040.jpg" data-mid="152449424" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4873e744a3ee1e2eb1a396f62a9e32f73ef2e56ded346caf1b394676757ff6ec/040.jpg" />Curtains are simple yet effective devices to control privacy in a physical space. We lack a corresponding mechanism online.Calls for transparency around what is tracked online and how it’s used have pushed companies to publish detailed privacy policies. However, these mechanisms of disclosure remain impenetrable. We often give up and click “I accept” without learning the intended use of our data. And this is taken as consent. ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/5-Standing-Invitation-1 Fri, 09 Sep 2022 00:18:24 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/5-Standing-Invitation-1 5. Standing Invitation “Each possession in sight helps me pencil in who they might be.” <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5234dd7b9b51d804a5cbcc3c836078544012367fad5afa966b1759a149812fde/050.jpg" data-mid="152449517" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5234dd7b9b51d804a5cbcc3c836078544012367fad5afa966b1759a149812fde/050.jpg" />Data collected from us is already used in a manner similar to our protagonist’s approach. Algorithms track us and those in our networks to build models that predict our behaviour. These forecasts, particularly their precision, complicates the idea that we exercise free will. This is at the heart of the unease we feel when our phones display a well-timed ad, even if the product happens to align with our desires. ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/6-Imaginary-Friends Fri, 09 Sep 2022 00:20:23 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/6-Imaginary-Friends 6. Imaginary Friends “Words get tangled on the tongue, but watching demands no speech at all.” <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2eac7555ee13849459efe2741c0b9d1f048102f49228c1826d075ff0112eaa4/060.jpg" data-mid="152449565" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2eac7555ee13849459efe2741c0b9d1f048102f49228c1826d075ff0112eaa4/060.jpg" />The protagonist’s desire to be a fly on the wall points to the power invisibility affords when it comes to online tracking. Information we normally protect is easier to give away to faceless, invisible trackers. But is privacy violated only when an individual perceives our information? What about statewide surveillance without a specific spectator? ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎ https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/7-Paying-Attention Fri, 09 Sep 2022 00:21:40 +0000 Circuits of Sand and Water https://circuitsofsandandwater.com/7-Paying-Attention 7. Paying Attention “How could paying close attention be bad?“ <img width="3840" height="2160" width_o="3840" height_o="2160" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5377add21d91299600ec3f80ff855a957ef57dda62ed4f52a1bfdf5491758273/070.jpg" data-mid="152449679" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5377add21d91299600ec3f80ff855a957ef57dda62ed4f52a1bfdf5491758273/070.jpg" /> This scene shows how tracking is justified in the context of care. Seniors and infants are often placed in smart homes without explicit consent. These environments sense and respond to their movements, interactions, and biometrics. The inconvenience of surveillence gets entangled with the promise of timely intervention and highest level of care.&nbsp; ︎︎︎Back&nbsp; |&nbsp; Next︎︎︎