Sunday, July 05, 2009

Privacy Art

Whenever you point your browser to an https page, or type your password into a box with asterisks instead of clear text, or see a small lock icon next to a form, you get a feeling of security. In these situations, a language of reassurance has evolved: lock icons, for example, tend to be golden-yellow or blue-gray. Unlike other icons, which are free to be multi-colored, locks have a restricted palette that has evolved to remind us of the physical objects, "real locks", that we trust from day to day. I propose work that takes advantage of these features in the collective net-unconscious. For example: an https website that promises to keep your data secure, while requesting only random pieces of banal information.

2 comments:

Ryan Ormonde said...

Not sure if this is a bit low tech for you, but I've been sampling from twitter feeds to make 'character sonnets' and I've done one for keytweeter:

http://poeticpracticejournal.blogspot.com/2009/07/keytweeter-sonnet-09070619580907060646.html

I'd like to do more from of these, I don't think this one does it justice. My favourite parts of keytweeter are seeing what you type first and then erase and type again.

Ryan Ormonde said...

Thanks for that response - seeing it come up on twitter first, then seeing it in my inbox was a strange experience! When I have time I'm going to read more of your stuff.