Whitney Arlana
The Screw of a Door’s Latch
6
February 2020
6
Feb
2020
28
Feb 2020
Gallery 2
The Screw of a Door’s Latch
Whitney Arlana
6
February 2020
6
February
2020
28
February 2020
Gallery 2
The Screw of a Door’s Latch is a work that engages with technological growth and the vulnerabilities and fear it can create. The work stems from a personal experience of living in an environment where such problems are becoming an epidemic. When using public bathrooms, I’d notice dozens of holes in the cubicle walls lled with toilet paper. I saw warnings in South Korean female facebook groups about cameras being hidden in taxis, subways, change-rooms and even assumably safe hotel rooms. The footage and photos are streamed onto anonymous websites where subscribers watch woman unannounced in private moments, unaware of their audience. This leaves woman with feelings of vulnerability, paranoia and the fear of being publicly displayed. Subsequently, many are dismissed for being overreactive or irrational. This is where the work departs and aims to convey the lived experience, both through the chaos and calm of potentially being watched. Please note this exhibition makes reference to peeping in public spaces.
Exhibition documented by Lucy Foster.
The Screw of a Door’s Latch is a work that engages with technological growth and the vulnerabilities and fear it can create. The work stems from a personal experience of living in an environment where such problems are becoming an epidemic. When using public bathrooms, I’d notice dozens of holes in the cubicle walls lled with toilet paper. I saw warnings in South Korean female facebook groups about cameras being hidden in taxis, subways, change-rooms and even assumably safe hotel rooms. The footage and photos are streamed onto anonymous websites where subscribers watch woman unannounced in private moments, unaware of their audience. This leaves woman with feelings of vulnerability, paranoia and the fear of being publicly displayed. Subsequently, many are dismissed for being overreactive or irrational. This is where the work departs and aims to convey the lived experience, both through the chaos and calm of potentially being watched. Please note this exhibition makes reference to peeping in public spaces.
Whitney Arlana
PSC's Bachelor of Photography graduate Whitney Arlana moved to South Korea in 2018. Once there, she soon learned about South Korea's illegal sex cam racket. Sexual predators place tiny cameras in toilets or changing rooms to record women in their most private moments. These videos are then streamed online for big money. Whitney talks about her own experience, the solidarity of women in a society that appears to dismiss their palpable fear as irrational or an overreaction. She also explains the process behind her almost forensic style work – highlighting the insidious nature of this epidemic, and how it can slowly push potential victims to breaking point.