BCS Immersive Environment Award Winner 2021

I'd rather be in a dark silence than - Operator (United States)

Artwork description

I’d rather be in a dark silence than (2020) is a signal isolating/blocking trench coat. Created in partnership with MoCDA, the coat merges conceptual art, fashion, and function. The visually absurd pockets are lined with military grade fabric to keep wireless technologies offline—a technique primarily used in law enforcement and digital forensics. Devices and RFID objects sealed in the dark pockets are unable to be reached, traced, hacked, nor monitored. For “I’d rather be in a dark silence than” the exhibition at Factory Berlin, the artists took an experiential approach, designing a world and a multimedia interpretation that conveyed the coat’s function. Audience-participants were immersed in a multisensory experience exploring the subjects of extractive technologies, data privacy and surveillance, in which they were both observers and also subjects. The function of the coat, rendering the wearer’s location and identity invisible, was explored through various outputs, such as, 360 projections, a short film, an augmented reality filter, art photography, a sound score, and poetry—all seamlessly woven together for a singular experience. Viscerally communicating the feelings of being a subject under surveillance capitalism is a poem entitled "Privacy is Fake Now" a spoken word performance interlaced with a custom spatial sound score, which plays throughout a 64 speaker system hidden behind mesh walls. A short film was projected 360 around the audience throughout the duration of the experience, while discoverable QR codes embedded in the environment led to an augmented reality Instagram filter which blurred and concealed any human form's identity.

Partners and collaborators

Supported by the Museum of Contemporary Digital Art (MoCDA) Fashion: Barbara Sanchez-Kane Still photography: Evelyn Bencicova Film: Mishka Kornai AR: Aaron Jablonski Performance (film): Daniela Dominique Performance (stills): Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti Words and voice: Tony Cruise Music: Amon Tobin, Tony Cruise Location: Factory Berlin Special thanks: Sandira Blas, Martin Eyerer, Oscar Lindahl, Catherine Bischoff, Daniela Skeyki, Factory Berlin, Sonar+D, and Beats by Dr. Dre