• Unless otherwise noted, all projects are independently conceived, researched, authored, and produced by Myles Zhang. Collaborators and their contributions are credited on individual project pages. Contact me.

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What’s wrong with Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon?

Animation and research as featured by Open Culture

Postmodernist thinkers, like Michel Foucault, interpret Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon, invented c.1790, as a symbol for surveillance and the modern surveillance state.

This lecture is in two parts. I present a computer model of the panopticon, built according to Bentham’s instructions. I then identify design problems with the panopticon and with the symbolism people often give it.

Related Projects

– Computer animation of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon
– View the panopticon in virtual reality
– Explore about Eastern State Penitentiary, a building inspired by Bentham

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