yellowalk

...another camo hat test - soon to be undertaken in colour.

The following is some text on my part of the project:

Party Hats

The party hats are an exploration into the concept of camouflage in a highly surveilled environment of celebration.

Camouflage has historically been used to conceal or disguise people, equipment and structures from adversity by blending into the surrounding environment. For it to be effective it must be designed in relation to the visual capabilities of the observer.

The 2010 Winter Olympics have seen unprecedented public investment into surveillance technology in Vancouver. Due to the corporate nature of this spectacle there was very little public debate into how it may change our city. The Games have been marketed to city residents as an event that will bring a financial return on their public investment. Despite this optimism, only time will tell if the Olympics will positively contribute to the livability of the city. Enormous investment in surveillance technology will no doubt initiate monitoring processes that will operate at varying levels and become apart of the Olympic legacy.

The party hats are intended to highlight the strategic role of camouflage and the surveilled environment. By subverting the power of the observing eye camouflage can affect the subject's sense of space and place. As a strategy to blend and reveal the party hats provide the opportunity to question if invisibility is freedom or loss of agency?

The hats are intended to highlight the proliferation of surveillance cameras that the Olympics has brought to our city and create a discussion around the technological and attitudinal legacies that a corporate event of this scale demands.