Scopic System

A mechanism to optimize observation, consisting of hardware, software, and human input. A prosthesis of the human and the state visual apparatus, that we find, for example, in the surveillance and protection of the EU’s outer borders in the Mediterranean, the border between the U.S. and Mexico, but also in shopping malls, at airport and on streets. Systems of disciplinary control, supported by facial recognition software and mimic profiling—worldwide data exchange is conceivable. In the spirit of Orwell’s 1984, there is nothing preventing us on the way to total surveillance, only the human being that has to evaluate the data or read disturbance notices. Or those who if necessary also act against the state when its scopic system is too limited.

More information in the media section

Forensis Exhibition. Keynote Speech by Eyal Weizman, Curator of Forensis

External links for further reading

Forensic Architecture, Cases: The Left-to-Die Boat. The deadly drift of a migrants’ boat in the Central Mediterranean

Forensic Architecture, Files: Gaza Flotilla

Watch the med. Online mapping platform to monitor the deaths and violations of migrants' rights at the maritime borders of the EU by Charles Heller and Lorenzeo Pezzani

Forensic Architecture, Cases: Drone Strikes. Investigating covert operations through spatial media