Nothing to Hide? Art, Surveillance, and Privacy

Nothing to Hide? Art, Surveillance, and Privacy, is an exhibition of visual art, public art, film, performance, interactivity, public discussions, and spoken word, exploring the prevalence of surveillance and its impact on the way we lead our lives.

Mass government surveillance and corporate data collection have become the new normal. We hear that individual privacy must be sacrificed in the interests of national security and that “If you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to fear.” But has increased surveillance made us safer, or are we, in fact, more vulnerable in other ways? Is privacy only about hiding bad things? Might privacy be a matter of principle: that personal information isn’t anyone else’s business, that citizens have the right “to be let alone,” as the U.S. Supreme Court declared more than a century ago?

This exhibition takes place at Real Art Ways and is co-curated by Edward Shanken and current Art & Law Program fellow, Jessica  Hodin. The exhibition opens on Saturday, March 4, from 5 to 7 PM, with a free public reception, and will be on view through June 19, 2017.