Mark Farid, a visionary artist and researcher, discusses his provocative projects on digital privacy and surveillance. He shares his experience of giving away all his passwords for six months, aiming to live without a phone or computer, which led to social and financial isolation. Farid also describes "Poisonous Antidote," where he broadcasted all his online activities, revealing personal habits and validating his behavior. His latest project, "Invisible Voice," funded by the European Commission, aims to empower individuals by providing information on companies' environmental impacts, corporate accountability, and more, promoting collective action and influencing external narratives.

 

In this episode, you will hear:

• Identity, performance, perception, and the self.

• The relationship between anonymity, privacy, and agency.

• Living life as a 23-year-old without a phone or computer.

• Data privacy and protection, and where the weak points are for you.

• The cultural changes happening day-to-day and how our technology usage keeps us connected.

• Solitude, loneliness, and being alone.

• Being known intimately and continually.

• The big and small ways to have accountability in our lives.

• The power of collective action.

 

 

Mark Farid is an Artist, Researcher, and Lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. He specializes in the intersection of the virtual and physical world, and the effect new technologies have on the individual and their sense of self. Farid's work embodies hacker ethics, such as a focus on privacy policies, use of surveillance technologies, and campaigning for data privacy and protection. His work forms a critique of social, legal, and political models.

 

Farid graduated from Kingston University, London, with a First Class (Hons) degree in Fine Art (2014), and has since given talks and participated in group and solo exhibitions in England, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, UAE, and Japan. He gave a TEDx talk in 2017 about his first two projects, “Data Shadow” (2015) and “Poisonous Antidote” (2016). Farid was selected for the Sundance Institute's 'New Frontier' Fellowship in Utah, USA (2016), for his ongoing VR project, “Seeing I”. "Seeing I" was piloted as a solo exhibition at Ars Electronica Digital Arts Festival (2019), and was selected for the European Media Artist Residency Exchange, as part of the Creative Cultures Programme of the European Union (2020/21). In 2022, Farid received European Commission Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding to develop his browser extension, "Invisible Voice”, which was later presented at the Pompidou Centre, FR (2022). In 2023-24, Farid received European Commission ST+ARTS funding to further develop "Invisible Voice" into a mobile phone app, a cross-device platform, and an interactive artwork. This will be exhibited at Ars Electronica Digital Arts Festival, AT (2024).

 

Farid's projects have been covered by media outlets worldwide. He frequently engages in art and technology conversations appearing on Fox News, Sky News, France24, Arte, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5Live, Times Radio, The Telegraph, The Guardian. In 2021, Farid featured as the contemporary “Surrealist Artist” on “Great British Railway Journeys” on BBC2.

 

Connect with Mark Farid:

Website: markfarid.com

Twitter: x.com/MorkForid

TedxWarwick:  Data Privacy: Good or Bad? | Mark Farid: youtube.com/watch?v=pKD5rxMonBI

 

Connect with R Blank and Stephanie Warner:

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