Thoughtful Refusals

Thoughtful Refusals is a conceptual performance artwork which investigates the refusal of contemporary surveillance – where surveillance is defined as the invasion of the basic space of the self. The work consists of a performance of a collage of readings which describe or imagine surveillance. These take the form of fictional works, philosophical works, terms of service for technologies, and also legislature designed to protect the rights of ordinary individuals. The reading intersects with a brainwave sensor which showcases the electric signals of the performer’s brain.

Ali Choudhry is a Melbourne-based artist and researcher working with generative systems, sound, and photographic thinking. His practice explores perception, sensing, and the politics of technology through systems that respond to their environments using sensors, data, and code. Interested in how machines interpret the world, he uses biosensors and real-time data to surface processes beyond human perception.