panopticon (13. 965)

Architecture studio SpY has installed a temporary monolithic intervention in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, the stark black triangle juxtaposing with the Art Nouveau façade of the palace—formerly home to the capital’s main post office and telegraph service—to encourage public dialogue, through obstruction of established lines-of-site of the historic square, forcing passersby to reposition their bodies or their cameras and viewing portholes, peepholes of CCTV feeds of the immediate surroundings, about urban surveillance and digital tracking. Though to a degree, we’ve all opted-in to this monitoring and superintendence for convenience but we also were not allowed to give informed consent.