Panoptican, Isla de Pinos / Isla de la Juventud
- C-Print mounted on 1/4 inch honeycomb aluminum
-
49.25 x 79.25 x 2.25 in
(125.1 x 201.3 x 5.72 cm)
- Stan Douglas
Gift of John Andrew MacMahon '95
Stan Douglas has gained international recognition throughout his career for his photographs, film, and installation works. Douglas manipulates narratives from existing literature, film, and historical references in his work to blur the boundaries of cinema and visual art. Born in 1960, Douglas is a contemporary artist based in Vancouver, Canada. He studied at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and has been successfully exhibited since 1981. He was included in the 1995 Whitney Biennial, and the Venice Biennial in 1990, 2001, 2004, and 2019.
Douglas’s “Cuba” series captures photographs and film of the legacy of Castro’s Revolution and its shifting economic ideology. Images of failed utopia and neglected urban architecture portray the social reality of Havana, Cuba. This specific work portrays a panopticon architecture, a structure that allows for one individual to hold absolute vision mastery over any other individual in the space; the circular design points each individual cell towards the central pillar, from which the observer can see everyone. Douglas’s print of an abandoned panopticon in Havana captures the essence of a past totalitarian regime, yet the architecture appears to remain abandoned, unlike other images of repurposed urban spaces in the series. The legacy of surveillance persists, as it is difficult to reframe such a narrative, which heightens an awareness of the contemporary system of surveillance in which we all operate.
- Edition: 1/7
- Framed: 49.25 x 79.25 x 2.25 in (125.1 x 201.3 x 5.72 cm)
- Subject Matter: Architecture
- Created: 2005
- Inventory Number: 2021.28.4
- Current Location: Belk Visual Arts Center
- Collections: Architecture, Belk Visual Arts Center, John Andrew MacMahon '95 Collection, Photography, Social Justice