Panopticism lecture

Principles of the panopticon

Michel Foucault - Panopticism theorist
- Disciplinary Society
- Books ('Madness & Civilisation' 'Discipline & Punish')
- 'Transforming western societies from form of power imposed by ruler or sovereign to panopticism'

Madmen - Moved from town to town
- Deemed to be deviant
- Need to be corrected

Great Confinement - Houses of correction (Beggars, unemployed as well as madmen)
- Purpose was to hide people
- Prisoners had no moral fibre, all went wrong
- Prisoners abused each other

Forms of correction - Power Hierarchy
- Knowledge is power
- Discipline should be physical and public (pillory)
- Public Execution
- Guy Fawkes (example of the times) Hung, drawn and quartered.

Panopticon - Birth of Asylum
- Designed by Jeremy Bentham
- Disciplinary Society & Disciplinary Power
- Alternative method of correction through mind (Mental psychology)
- Control through mind rather than body.
- 'Institutional Gaze' - Guards have 360 view of prisoners from control tower.
- Prisoners isolated and constantly monitored, and could never see guards.
- Prisoner eventually controls themselves and learns to self regulate
- Never want to digress in fear of being watched/surveillanced.
- Surrey Asylum - Panoptic asylum

Self regulation - Docile bodies - submissive, ready to learn
- Force body to carry out tasks
- Gyms - Government wants us to be healthy to work longer, to be more productive

Modern day panopticism - Modern society
- Power and surveillance through 'training' of the mind

Examples - Open plan office - Boss can watch all workers, 'the office' comedy series
- Bars/clubs - power over customers
- Google Maps - Panoptic Surveilance
- Lectures - Set in rows, disciplined/self regulate, Attention toward front
- Student records - Gives tutors power over students
- CCTV - Monitors on mass scale - form of voyeurism
- Speed cameras - 1/3rd don't have film but people still slow down
- Networking websites - Facebook

Foucault and Power - Panoptically subvert power

Panopticism and Art - Bruce Nauman - Corridor pieces
- Vito Acconci - Seed Bed
- Chris Burden - Samson (1985)