Project Purpose: To educate Latin American audiences as to the surveillance systems that operate within their cities.
**Project Responsibilities: **Create an interactive website that allows users to traverse an imaginary city, understanding the interplay between Salsa music and digital surveillance. Work with Harmony Labs to develop and implement an impact plan.
My hometown, Cali, is known as the World Capital City of Salsa Music. This huge title expresses the close relationship that most people have with rhythm, dance and this type of popular music. A couple of years ago, I started listening and dancing salsa music with a new perspective. I started paying attention to the lyrics and I realized not only how aggressive some songs are against women but also how the idea of love reflected in the music is very similar to the idea of vigilance and control that has been maximized today in the digital age.
Activities: I want to create a digital cartography where people can make a musical journey through an imaginary city. This city would be inspired by the happy chaos of some of the largest cities in Latin America such as Bogotá, Mexico City, Lima, Caracas or Sao Paulo. What is special about this musical trip? As Professor Gary T Marx said in his article Soul Train: The New Surveillance in Popular Music, there are "close links between surveillance and culture and control and entertainment" following his idea of "seeing musical themes as a window to knowledge about surveillance "and society".
Whom, where? I want that people from Latin america, that are not experts in this topics, can use this musical journey to discover the problems behind the surface of the new concepts of smart cities , IoT, and other kind of concepts that they are part of the narrative of security and technology, but that have implications in the exercise of our human rights: a sinister side. The cartography will have key points (places or elements) such as security cameras, bus stations, helicopters, supermarkets, customer cards, etc... all linked with songs that express, in their lyrics, a sense of control, vigilance, tracking, and so forth. When user stops in a particular spot, a song will play and a little text box will show information about a concept related to surveillance and the importance of privacy. The experience of realizing some hidden privacy problems in our cities is similar to the experience I had discovering the hidden narratives in salsa music. Outputs: a digital cartography as a resource to talk about privacy and surveillance in the Latin American context. Impact: Improve the knowledge of the Latin American population about the problems of privacy that many of the "technology city plans" represent for citizens.