Walls looking from within

Abstract

This new issue of Leonorana focuses on the phenomenon of surveillance, drawing upon the concept of “disciplinary power”, as decentralized power beyond space and time, through the exploration of “fracture” and “fugue” [escape] as forms of counterpower over more or less subtle surveillance mechanisms and to contradict the idea of surveillance “normalization”. In light of this theme, the chapter looks at the mechanisms of surveillance in the context of carceral environments not only "inside" but also "outside" prisons, first problematising the notions of (in)visibility, representation of "crime" and penal spectatorship, and then exploring specific artistic endeavours which addressed the issue of state monitoring and mass criminalisation through performativity and aesthetics.