The Argus Project @ Project Row Houses, 2016


The Argus Project

  • Year: 2016... ongoing
  • Team: Ayodamola Tanimowo Okunseinde, Gan Golan, Raquel de Anda, Julien Terrell, Yvette King, Pierre Mendy, Ron Morrison
  • Role:

    Design, Technology

If police wear body armor to protect themselves in public, what must the public wear to protect themselves from the police?

In ancient Greek myth, Argus Panoptes was a giant with 100 eyes who served as a watchman for and against the gods.

The Argus Project is a wearable sculpture, video installation, and counter-surveillance training that intersects with the public debate over police accountability. By embedding an array of camera "eyes" into a body-suit, Argus creates a "force field of accountability" around those being targeted by streaming video of police violence during protests.

Filming the police is not confrontational nor subversive; it is a democratic act. It bears witness to the actions of the state, it strengthens society and institutions. The Argus Project is not so much about an individual hero as the citizen body as a whole... Together, we are all Argus.

Excerpt from The Argus Project film, 2016


The Argus Project exo-suit - Deployment 2, 2016


ExoSuit

    The Argus Exo-Suit is a futuristic superhero outfit to be worn by citizen activists and those who feel in danger of state violence. Technologically, the suit is a head-to-toe mobile counter-surveillance device embedded with illuminated, micro-computer controlled cameras (i.e. its' eyes) that allows the wearer, and its' audience of remote viewers, to monitor and record police behavior. However, the suit also functions on the mythological level, as the design brings together many resonant cultural references, from pop-culture characters like Tron or Iron Man to Video Games and Afro-futurism. Together, it creates an inspiring, actually-existing superhero character to inspire citizens who seek to uphold community safety and our democratic values as a society.

The Argus Project @ ComplexCon, 2016


The Argus Project exo-suit test, 2016


The Argus Project @ Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes, 2016


The Argus Project exo-suit - Deployment 2, 2016


The Argus Project camera interface, 2016


Film

    The video installation takes place across multiple screens and surfaces, to create a feeling of multiple voices in conversation with each other. Part documentary, part science fiction, the story is told in 6 chapters and features the voices of family members of victims of police violence, police officers willing to speak candidly about their experiences, and grassroots activists. In emotionally resonant and deeply personal conversations, they discuss their stories, the impacts of systemic racism on society, the pervasive surveillance of low-income communities of color, and the profound change brought about by citizen videographers who are now 'watching back' in response. The entire story is told through the eyes of a silent narrator: The Argus Operating System, and animated, Graphic User interface (GUI) that is half machine, half mythological being, who uses motion graphics to analyze the issue from a systemic level, and present its' conclusions about what we must do in response.

Still from The Argus Project film, 2016


Still from The Argus Project film, 2016


The Argus Project - 3 Channel Installation @ Project Row Houses, 2016


The Argus Project - 3 Channel Installation @ Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes, 2016


Workshops

    In an era where police violence is being increasingly understood as a systemic problem tied to deeper issues of Structural Racism and Economic Inequality, police body cameras are being proposed as the solution. We seek to generate a more expansive, systemic conversation to this critical debate. The Argus video installations are accompanied by educational materials and public programs to further the content every stop of the way. In some of these workshops, participants are invited to create their own Arus system using their cell phones and rapid prototyping methods.

The Argus Project program @ Project Row Houses, 2016


The Argus Project program @ Project Row Houses, 2016


The Argus Project prototyping workshop @ Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes, 2016


The Argus Project prototyping workshop @ Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes, 2016


The Argus Project prototyping workshop @ Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes, 2016


B.E.A.C.O.N.

    The B.E.A.C.O.N. project is an attempt to leverage machine learning algorithms to build effective accountability for cops in local communities. The project's artificial intelligence-enabled mobile app recognizes police badges and links them to an incident report database. Community members can log onto the database to report and follow the incidences of police violence.

B.E.A.C.O.N. concept sketch, 2017


B.E.A.C.O.N. concept sketch, 2017


B.E.A.C.O.N. concept sketch, 2017