Inspection House
2019
Textile, wallpaper, venus flytraps, rug, slippers, embroidery and alarm
10' x 6' x 5'
This installation is named for the central watchtower— the Inspection House, in Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon—the central viewing space from which an institution keeps a watchful eye over it’s prisoners. Each of the letters in the embroidery is an aerial view of a prison, spelling out Home Sweet Home. The patterns in the wallpaper and slippers are from security envelopes from government and corporate surveillance patterns. I included the venus fly traps because of their ability to trap prey. By inserting objects and imagery about control and surveillance, I emphasize the paranoia that is part of contemporary surveillance culture and the injustices hidden in plain sight, woven into the fabric of comfortable living spaces.