ABSTRACT
The arts and technology are both finding new expression in the city. While technology has facilitated many aspects of urban life, perhaps the one that should be of most immediate concern for artists is how technology offers states the opportunity to monitor and control densely packed populations without parallel in any previous era. 1 Ironically, as has been pointed out by previous observers, we facilitate the government's monitoring of our lives through the voluntary use of communications technology. Is it a coincidence that this monitoring of civilian life is being led by the principal allies in “the war on terror” in their largest cities, New York and London? These cities were both the sites of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and July 7, 2005 respectively. The public, having been sold fear as an excuse to go to war, are now having every move they make blanket monitored “for their personal protection”: “In our world there will be no emotions except fear” (Orwell 2013). Soon, after the roll-out of London's new cameras, every person's face entering the subway will be recorded. 2 As much of the omnipresent surveillance is being privatized, this raises additional concerns as to who holds access to the data and for the use of technology in urban areas. Is this the Oceania George Orwell saw when writing in 1948?
