Private Matters

The notion of privacy, as we traditionally know it, is becoming an increasingly archaic one. 

In this context, we might ask, how should the role of the artist shift? Not only have the ways in which information is distributed, channels of communication are forged, and images are circulated become more diffuse and democratic, but, accordingly, there is a wider array of media available to artists than ever before. Private Matters brings together a group of artists who, through individual strategies of sharing various kinds of secure information with the audience, eliminates the boundaries between public and private. Secrets are revealed, security measures of institutions are tested, and myths—both personal and collective—are interrogated. These works share a reliance on technology, which has become an integral factor in the way that we interact with others now; through various media we share our statuses, moods, and follow each other in an endless voyeuristic cycle. Today, public access to what once was considered privileged information is a social reality, pointing to broader changes in the construction of our relationships and emphasizing the fact that—in our networked environment—virtually no information is private anymore. 

Featuring work by: Becca Albee and Kathleen Hanna, Maria Antelman, Nilbar Güres, Trevor Paglen, Stephanie Syjuco, and Pilvi Takala