While we were creating From Below, these questions were on our minds, which we also shared with the directors selected for this series.
★ What would happen if image or sound were to disappear?
★ Does the abundance of recording tools in the public space create a wrong impression on the impossibility of being ‘off the record’? How can we make ‘off the frame’ more visible?
★ What is image or sound manipulation? How is it different from ‘montage’?
★ What are the accessible and inaccessible visual content via web? What kind of images can we trace and how do we trace them?
★ What and who are the state surveillance records and constantly collected personal data used for?
★ What are some of the strategies that social movements developed against ‘surveillance from above’ and can these strategies be employed by masses?
★ Do the differences between quality / resolution of images recorded and distributed by various tools point at something?
★ How do we distinguish between private and public, where does one end and the other starts?
★ Can anyone record and share anything as they wish? What are the ethical boundaries of recording, especially at protests?
★ While standing against ‘surveillance from above’, does taking advantage of surveillance recordings in police violence cases imply a contradiction?
★ Are there moments where a camera should stop recording? How do one prioritize between recording and stopping the record to get involved in action/protest? How and where should we look for ethical discussions around such issues?
★ Does the pandemic legitimize surveillance from above?
★ Do the recording and digital distribution of images produced ‘from below’ enable more ‘surveillance from above’ via state apparatus? How can we deal with this dilemma?
★ How can we (or can we) recreate the position of witness in cases of disposal and/or confiscation of personal or grassroots archives?
The image above is taken from Goldsmiths University’s research facility Forensic Architecture’s (FA) video on the murder of Tahir Elçi.
