Emily Zhou – Looking Outwards – 08

Adam Harvey is an artist and researcher based in Berlin. His works focuses on the societal impacts of networked data analysis technologies and computer vision and counter-surveillance in particular. Adam graduated from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University (2010) and previously studied engineering and photojournalism at the Pennsylvania State University.

The Electromagnet Spectrum of Counter/Surveillance – Adam Harvey, Eyeo 2014

Being a strong advocate of privacy and freedom of expression, his body of work is mainly comprised of various soft and hard counter-surveillance technologies. My favourite project of his is the Privacy Gift Shop––a pop-up store at the New Museum that sells counter-surveillance items developed by Harvey. A product example is the OFF Pocket––a faraday cage phone case that blocks all wireless signals (e.g. tracking, eavesdropping) from reaching your phone. I admire this project because he brings technological social concerns to the forefront in a creative and engaging way.

In his talk, Adam begins by defining the terms “surveillance” and “privacy”. He shows examples of their importance and scope of impact. I think this was extremely powerful in framing the rest of his talk, especially when it came to his own work and contributions in pro-privacy and anti-surveillance.