Lecture 1: Panopticism
The first lecture aimed to look at the idea of :
1. The principles of panopticism
2. Michel Foucault's concepts
3. Contemporary society and surveillance
Overall I found the lecture really interesting as it was something I had never thought about before. The lecture first looked at the madness of society and and how systems of correction were formed through the 'Houses of Correction'. Much like an asylum of sorts when good behaviour was rewarded and bad was chastised. But it was through the Panopticon and the idea of surveillance and monitoring of behavior did most success come, the idea of constantly being watched creates a mental discipline and the subject would learn to regulate their behavior so that the individual subsumes to that power of being watched automatically. There were downsides however, being constantly watched can lead to paranoia and insanity.
In modern day this theory can be seen in everyday life not just in prisons. The open-plan office or even cafes and bars allows for no hideaways or places to hide, this in effect creates a mental discipline for the inhabitants where fear of being surveyed creating a mechanism of disciplinary power and regulates behavior, sometimes subconsciously.
In terms of Graphic Design images of power were used in Soviet Russia, Stalin's propaganda images during the 1930'S created an illusion of being constantly watched which in turn creates that disciplinary power and self-regulated behavior. These types of images could surely then be seen today, for example Obama's presidential campaign, would it merely just stand for hope or subconsciously create regulated behavior throughout the country?
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