“Superenhanced Tribunal Room” by UBERMORGEN.COM
Title:
- Superenhanced Tribunal Room
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Medium:
- Mixed media installation with software component
Artist Statement:
We deny the concept of torture as self defence, but we accept it as part of rock culture. Enhanced Interrogation (Torture), Extraordinary Renditions (CIA kidnappings), Supermax Prisons, Unlawful Enemy Combatants and Child Imprisonment: Mixing Supermax brightness with blacksite darkness. We do not emulate reality – our world is staged, superficial and amateurish, but still the user can experience the ubiquitous perversion and go into a supervised shock.
The installation Superenhanced Tribunal Room is based on photographs and personal descriptions of the Guantanamo Military Tribunal Rooms. All military personnel is substituted by a machine (Superenhanced Generator). Additionally, a series of photographs (digital composites) of a Guantanamo Prison Guard as well as Detainees are integrated into the room. The Superenhanced Generator is an interrogation software which automates, dehumanises, familiarises and therefore optimises examination. The willing user is presented a set of questions; it does not matter if ones answers truthfully, lies or avoids being specific, the system looks for answers it needs to satisfy it’s database. The software’s goal is to label any participant by either being potential future interrogator, an enemy combatant or an intelligence officer. The digital tool uses Google and Facebook to back-check on personal user-data thus generating further intelligence. The questioning does not stop after one session, but continues to penetrate the user’s mind and existence via email.
