Peep Media in Digital Times

Universität für künstlerische und industrielle Gestaltung – Kunstuniversität Linz

Institut für Medien Interface Cultures

Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts

Peep media in digital times

Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! A reflection on children’s data processing through a microworld

María Esperanza Sasaki Otani

Betreut von: Univ.-Prof. Mag.art. Manuela Naveau PhD Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christa Sommerer Dr. phil. Penesta Dika

Datum der Approbation: ......

Unterschrift des Betreuers/der Betreuerin: ......

Linz, 2021

Abstract

This thesis investigates the historical development of peep media and its presence in digital times by analyzing and comparing different artworks based on the act of peeping. This research proposes that peep media and one-to-one performances are, nowadays, an answer to a multitasking-hyperconnected lifestyle, where it is increasingly difficult to enjoy privacy, intimacy, and unmediated interpersonal relationships. Likewise, this research understands that the peep box as an object contains the spirit of its time; a condensed and miniaturized version of its own reality, and in so, reflecting the knowledge and aspirations of the moment it exists in.

This thesis introduces the artistic research behind Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! a peep show for children which uses the spectator’s biometric data to animate parts of the scenography; and which has been created and carried out by the author of this thesis. This micro puppet show explores children’s new digital environment and the concerns implied by biometric data and the notion of privacy. It also investigates how children recognize themselves as sources of data and whether they perceive their own digital data as a resource. This research reflects on the document named General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021) and the importance of developing digital and data literacy from an early age. Finally, this thesis presents the DADÁ-TATÁ project’s first proposal in developing children’s digital awareness through cultural actions.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Interface Cultures for directing my curiosity into such complex and changing territories, which inspired me to fulfil my dream of building a peep box. Thanks for the guided tour: Manuela Naveau, Christa Sommerer, Penesta Dika, Laurent Mignonneau, Gebhard Sengmüller, Sabine Seymour, Hideaki Ogawa, Mika Satomi, Hannah Perner-Wilson, Fabricio Lamoncha, Enrique Tomás, César Escudero Andaluz, Tiago Martins, Davide Bevilacqua, and Gertrude Hörlesberger.

To my Master colleagues with whom I shared this pleasant journey, who listened to my monothematic conversations about the box, and who always gave important feedback and support.

To Niklas Uhl for helping me to build my first Lambe Lambe box, which certainly would not be the same without him.

To my family for their love, who, despite the distance, were always present with every memory that my peep box evoked in me.

To the Lambe Lambe artists for sharing their experience and for the nobility of their work.

Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! is dedicated to my sister Angie, the first puppeteer artist in my life, and my nephew Íkam, whose presence makes me question many things.

Contents

Abstract ………………………………………….……………………………………..……………….…………………………………………….…….…………. 3

Acknowledgments ………………………………………….…………………………….…………………………………….……….………………….…. 5

Introduction ……………………………………..………………………………………………………….……………………….…………..….………………. 9

CHAPTER I ______

1.1. Peep media through history: The act of peeping as entertainment and public experience - some key developments ….………. 12 Camera obscura Magic lantern Perspective Peepshows Kinetoscope Mutoscope Additional aspects: About the importance of the box: directing attention and light About the theatrical character of the peep box

1.2. Creating peep media in digital times: Reshaping the inwards ……………………..…………..…………..…..… 23 CCTV: Voyeurism and Surveillance Virtual and digital realm Peeping as sharing Lambe Lambe theater and the peep practice reappearance in Latin America

CHAPTER II ______

2.1. Children’s digital environment …………………………………………………………………………………………..……….….………. 35 Children’s rights in digital times Children’s biometric data Education: Becoming citizens of the Information Society

2.2. Biometric data Art ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….……..…… 43

CHAPTER III ______

Artistic work

3.1. DADÁ-TATÁ: Cultural actions to develop children’s digital awareness ……………………………….... 47 First proposal

3.2. Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! ……………………………………………………………………………….……………..………………… 52 3.2.1. Motivation …………………………………………………………………………………….……………...………….……..………… 52 3.2.2. The peep box construction ………………………………………………………………………………………………...... 54 The scenography: Creating the landscape with childhood memories The soundtrack and the lighting design: Assembling the narrative and emotional body of the work Using sensors to bring the scenography to life The monitor as the sky and as a reference to the transition of time The puppets Technical plot System diagram 3.2.3. The performance …………………………………………………………………………………………………..………...…….... 63 Storyboard & Technical script 3.2.4. Breaking down the box’s content and meaning ………………………..………………………..…..….... 68 Collecting the data: The spectator as data subject and the data as a resource Visualizing the data through the microworld’s natural environment Representing the privacy levels through the scenography: The cat’s house and the mountains The sky and the clouds The forest and the garden The ocean 3.2.5. Audience experience ………………………..…………………..…..…………………..….…………………..………….….... 79 Ars Electronica Festival 2020 Kids’ Research Laboratory at Ars Electronica Center

CHAPTER IV ______

4.1. Conclusions …..…………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……...... 89

References ..…………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………….…………………….….…..…...... 94 List of Figures ..…………………………….………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………...…..... 100 Appendix A: Migration ……….………………………………………………….…………………………………..…………………….…………...... 105 Appendix B: Miniature Theatre ……………….…………………………………..………………………………..….…….…..…..…..…...... 106 Appendix C: Children’s digital environment ………………………………………………………………………………..………...... 107 Appendix D: Previous video work ……………………..…………………………………………………………………………….…..…...... 110 Appendix E: Electronic schematics ……………………………………………….….…….…….……….…….…….……....…..…..…...... 112 Appendix F: Questionnaire for school visit ….……….….…….…….……….….…….…….……....…….….…...... ……..…...... 114 Appendix G: Miniature ceramics .……….….…….…….……....…….….…….….….…………….…….……...... …….…...... …..…...... 116

Introduction

The project presented in this thesis results from personal experiences I’ve had during recent years, which I believe it is essential to share, briefly. In 2011, I started work in a cultural center in Lima - Peru, as a producer of cultural events. All these activities and international festivals were presented, free to the public and all over the city; a remarkable institutional initiative for a city of 10 million inhabitants where cultural consumption is usually seen as a luxury and is concentrated within a few districts. During this time, I saw many children’s shows, rediscovered the magic of puppets, and fell in love with Lambe Lambe theater. Since then, making a Lambe Lambe peep box has been a dream; I wanted to share this intimate-magical experience and do something with it, but I didn’t know what to do or when to do it. In 2016, I began work in a library, running small workshops and activities for children and young people. This experience enabled me to be closer to the participants and witness how being active by doing handcraft and sharing the process with others can impact people. This work experience allowed me to create the DADÁ-TATÁ project with the micro puppet show for children Track-Track: Let’s follow the cat!, to reflect on the importance of enhancing what is on offer culturally for children by introducing to them, topics concerning their biometric data and privacy related to their current technological environment.

This thesis comprises the research, development process, and performance experiences of Track-Track: Let’s follow the cat! It investigates peep media as a format, its possibilities to create immersion, its potential to create an intimate space to bond the performer with the spectator while bonding the spectators with his/her private memories.

It is essential to mention that peep boxes have always been always connected to new scientific developments. Even if peeping can be seen as an isolated and individual action, the peep media evolution through history has always responded to its time and its technology has been permanently updated. Nevertheless, with the emergence of collective screen experiences as cinema and television, and the Internet, peep media was left forgotten. In this context, Track- Track: Let’s follow the cat! seeks to reflect on the peep practice and reinterpret this intimate media in current digital times.

The first chapter describes peep media development, its origins, and multiple outcomes until the mid-20th century. For this first chapter, I took as a guide Erkki Huhtamo’s media archaeology work and followed his questions:

“When, how and why did ‘peep media’ develop? Who has utilized peep media and for what purposes? How does peeping effect the identity formation of the peeper(s)? Does peeping mean the marginalization of the body, left ‘outside’ while the mind roams inside the peephole? How has its role changed over time? Where are the peepholes to today’s culture and what do they reveal?” (Huhtamo, 2006, p. 79)

To answer the last two questions, in the second part of chapter one, I present an overview of peep media in the 20th and 21st century, reflecting on different media artworks based on the act of peeping. This first chapter shows how the peep media content and its spectator have changed over time. It is essential to mention that although peep media could refer us to voyeurism, eroticism, and surveillance, this thesis focuses on the social-political value of peep media as well as on the concept of sharing and exchanging an intimate experience in an immersive setting like a peep box. In the first chapter, in the Peeping as sharing section, it is understood how individual performances, such as Lambe Lambe theater which reestablishes the old peep practice in public spaces, can be part of a response to a latent need for deeper connections in our time, where mediated communication and hyperconnectivity seem not to be enough for our interpersonal relationships.

After a brief historical analysis of the peep media format, the second chapter approaches Track- Track: Let’s follow the cat! peep box’s content and how it relates to biometric data and its target audience, the children. This chapter presents brief research on children’s digital environment, rights, and privacy; followed by some artwork that uses biometric data with the aim to identify its use on artistic exploration.

The third chapter is nourished by the two preceding chapters, and is based on my practical artistic research. While researching biometric data, privacy, and children, I conceived the DADÁ- TATÁ project: Cultural actions to develop children’s digital awareness. This thesis presents DADÁ- TATÁ’s first proposal with some ideas that reflect on the importance of media and data literacy in children from the artistic perspective and its aim to increase the offline cultural offer for children, related to new technologies. Track-Track: Let’s follow the cat! is the first outcome of the DADÁ-TATÁ project. The third chapter explains the peep box’s technical aspects and development process. When I experienced Lambe Lambe theater for the first time and couldn’t understand how it worked, I was sure I could develop one, and felt the need to do it. Something that started in a

very intuitive way became clearer during the construction process, which was eventually confirmed by the spectator’s feedback comments. This third chapter shares thoughts and observations I had at the time of creating and performing the peep box and the comments I received from the spectators. Finally, I present my conclusions about the peep media’s practice and experience.

CHAPTER I

“Wonder is a sudden surprise of the soul, which brings it to consider with attention the objects that seem to it unusual and extraordinary.” The Passions of the Soul (Descartes, 1649, p. 20)

The innate peeping practice created its own media devices; Huhtamo refers to them as “peep media.” These devices interface their user by peeping “into a hole, lens, or hood” (Huhtamo, 2006, p. 142). A device that individualized the sight through a peephole, differing from others screen collective experiences. According to Huhtamo, the period of development and propagation of the peep media was between the 15th and 18th centuries, “a period of religious and political upheavals, geographical expansion, emerging capitalism, and radical transformations in science, worldviews, and modes of perception” (Huhtamo, 2012, p. 33).

1.1. Peep media through history: The act of peeping as entertainment and public experience - some key developments

“Media are not fixed objects: they have no natural edges. They are constructed complexes of habits, beliefs, and procedures embedded in elaborate cultural codes of communication. The history of media is never more or less than the history of their uses, which always lead us away from them to the social practices and conflicts they illuminate.” When Old Technologies were New (Marvin, 1988, p. 8)

Peep media evolved through history, finding new formats triggered by the changes of their times: “from the large peepshow boxes for public viewing to tiny paper toys, alabaster ‘peep eggs’ and ‘stanhopes’” (Huhtamo, 2004, Peeping, the Body, and the Social section). For this research, it is opportune to observe that the beginnings of peep media are related to the development of optical devices that centuries later will lead to the invention of photography and cinema, such as the camera obscura and the magic lantern.

Camera obscura The camera obscura has existed since ancient times. It is described as a darkened room with a tiny hole that allows the outdoor light to come in projecting inside, on the hole’s opposite wall, an inverse image of the outside. During the Middle Ages, this phenomenon was used for astronomical studies. Later, artists from the Renaissance, such as Leonardo Da Vinci used it as an aid to drawing. From this period, the camera obscura started suffering technical changes which would lead, in the 19th century, to the invention of photography: In 1550, Girolamo Cardano improved on the camera obscura by suggesting that a biconvex lens be placed in front of the opening to increase the projected image’s brightness and focus (Wayne, 2019). In the 17th century, portable versions of the camera obscura appeared, and as in previous times, it was used for astronomical studies by Johannes Kepler. A century later, a mirror was added to the device at a 45-degree angle to project the image upward, making it more comfortable for the artist to draw the projected image on paper (Wayne, 2019).

Figure 1. Camera obscura in Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (18th century).

Magic lantern In contrast to the camera obscura, which ‘absorbed’ the outside surroundings to project them inside a box to be studied or drawn, the magic lantern would be able to project an artificial image as a small drawing in a slide and maximize it on a screen by using a lens and light source. This device was invented in the 17th century and popularized in Europe by Thomas Walgenstein (1627-1681), a Danish commercial and itinerant natural magician who put on projection shows (Kircher, 1671, as cited in During, 2002). With the development of new technologies such as limelight, gaslight, and later, electricity, the magic lantern spread rapidly, becoming a collective

screen experience, as later, the cinema would become. In the 19th century, it became a form of entertainment and collaborated in the popularization of science (Chanan, 1995) by projecting images related to “technological topics such as railways, telegraph cables, natural history, blood cells, microscopic photography…” (Perriault, 1981, as cited in Dagrada, 2014, p. 22), as well as views of popular astronomy and illustrations of “géographie et voyages” (Dagrada, 2014, p. 23).

Figure 2. Illustration from Kircher’s Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae projection of hellfire or purgatory (1671).

It is interesting to see how the magic lantern was always an object in evolution, a part of the concerns and curiosity of its time. In the 17th century, Kircher explored the magic lantern’s expressive possibilities by adding other light sources, translucent gems, and mirrors inside the box, which would shine and produce a series of different reflections from those coming from a lens (Crary, 1990, as cited in During, 2002). The magic lantern and its effects - phantasmagoria and the ‘dissolving view’ (Armstrong, 2008) - would allow the images to have a new nature as light, where they can overlap and fade in front of our eyes, challenging our sense of sight and reality perception. Nowadays, after five centuries, the magic lantern and its practice remain alive through, for example, the Utsushi-e, the Japanese Traditional Magic Lantern Show.1 And from an updated perspective, maybe could it even be considered that the mapping projection technique finds one of its origins in the magic lantern and its well-used visual effects in dioramas during the 19th century?

Figure 3. Magic lantern slides of decapitated men.

1 http://www.f.waseda.jp/kusahara/Utsushi-e/Welcome_to_Utsushi-e.html (Accessed: 11.1.2021).

Perspective The development of the notion of perspective in the Renaissance period would have an immense impact on Art. Based on a mathematical formula, perspective would allow artists to paint more realistic images by creating the visual effect or optical illusion of depth. The pictures would cease being flat as in the Byzantine era, which would also change their composition. Curiously, Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), who was one of the artists who contributed to the formulation of perspective, would use a pinhole and a reflective material as optical instruments to draw the buildings of Florence as part of his perspective’s studies. Might this be one of the first times that the eye is attached to a peephole to change its vision and create the illusion of something else?

Figure 4. Brunelleschi’s perspective device.

With the knowledge of perspective, Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten (1627-1678) would create one of his most famous works inside a box. But in his box, the content is not hidden as one of the sides is entirely open, allowing light to enter the box to make paintings visible on all five sides. However, this front view seems wrong or deformed. The space inside the box can just be revealed by seeing through two peepholes located at the ends of the box: Van Hoogstraten ‘hid’ the final image by using anamorphism, “a technique by which an image is skewed so that the optimal viewing perspective is at a severe oblique angle to the picture plane” (Nakamura, 2020, para. 1).

Through the peephole, the observer can enter the interior of a Danish house and pass through an intimate everyday space with his/her gaze. What would have been the purpose of Van Hoogstraten choosing a box but leaving it open? Why the duality of the peepholes? These are some of the questions that come to mind when I look at this artwork. For Flanagan (2009), author of the book Critical Play: Radical game design, the artist, through this peepshow (more sophisticated than popular), created a critical game through his box, manifesting “the ideas of progress, identity, power and perception, and the treatment of everyday issues can criticize the dominant ideologies of the Enlightenment on the state, science, rationality and order” (p. 20).

Figure 5. Perspective box of a Dutch interior by Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten.

Peepshows One of the first descriptions of a peep show with miniature puppets or cut-out figures was written by a Viennese Jesuit in 1675. In the text, Nervus opticus sive tractatus theoricus, Zacharias Traber describes a box with a peephole through which one could see a mirror placed obliquely to observe the reflection of a miniature circular stage that turned by winding a crank to see “an endless procession – hermits in the desert or a scene from hell (with real flames!)” (Baltrusaitis, 1978, as cited in Huhtamo, 2012, p. 34).

From the beginning of the 18th-century, peep shows were popular in public spaces such as streets and fairs being part of the culture of attractions. During this period, the religious or philosophical content used before was replaced by more attractive elements such as curiositas and illustrations of remote places, “turning itinerant peep shows into a virtual voyaging medium” (Huhtamo, 2012, p. 35).

In the book Italian cultural lineages, the author presents a beautiful illustration of the Mondo Nuovo optical box (Figure 6). This engraving shows a peepshow man as one of Venetians’ sixty typical street occupations made by Gaetano Zompini in 1753. Through this illustration and its description, White (2007) explains how this popular ‘encyclopedic’ device found in the middle of the street becomes an escape route to visit exotic places. The showman manipulated the box and offered the child and the woman the chance to access ‘another world’ through a peephole after receiving a certain amount of money. Illustrated landscapes operated by ropes appear and disappear as if one were teleporting from one place to another. As seen in this engraving, Huhtamo (2004) states that children and women were the most frequent audience throughout the peep shows’ history.

Figure 6. “The imbonitore of a mondo nuovo shows mother and child, for the price of one soldo, the ‘distances and prospects’ of a range of views (vedute). Gaetano Zompini, engraving from Le Arti Che Vanno Per Via Nella Città di Venezia (1753)” (White, 2007, p.33).

The environment around the peepshows was noisy. In the middle of the street, the peep practice we could conceive as an intimate, individual, and solitary act is entirely different. The showman, who owned and managed this small business, was the speaker who caught the public’s attention with his talented tongue. In his essay Peepshows for All: Performing Words and the Travelling Showman, Plunkett (2015) affirms that the peepshow man was notably essential to create the fascination around peep shows by driving the spectator’s experience and visual content. The spectators could take a peep; through the box’s only hole or one from up to 36 peepholes (such as some peep boxes would have, some in two rows where the lower ones were especially for children (Huhtamo, 2004)). Although the gaze was independent, the spectator’s body would come in contact with other spectators’ bodies because of the closeness of the peepholes and the agitation of people waiting for their turn; somehow offering to the viewer a private but collective experience (see Figure 7). In the bustle of fairs, streets, and vendors, the spectator had to concentrate on following the showman’s narratives and observing the changing images inside the box. The showman was in charge of these movements, including special sound effects by shaking “dried peas in a can” (Greville, 1880, as cited in Plunkett, 2015, p.19). The peepshows were made mostly for entertainment, and its content was varied: “religious, patriotic, fairy-tale, military, historic, theatrical, topographical - as well as the latest notorious murder or current event” (Plunkett, 2015, p. 18). Peepshow’s success was also due to its prices. In the 17th century England, a peepshow could cost between half a penny and one penny, a very affordable price

at the time, making it one of the most popular entertainment options.

Figure 7. A crowded peepshow fair.

The peepshow was a live performance, and the showman was in charge of keeping it alive. There were peepshow men who worked independently carrying their boxes on their backs to change locations and therefore renew spectators. And there were others with more budget who traveled in caravans throughout the country every year during fair season between March and October with sophisticated peep boxes with more lenses for more spectators (Plunkett, 2015). It was a nomadic occupation. However, by the end of the 19th century, the entertainment business became more organized and stable, which meant the opening of permanent show venues. Suddenly, paying for peepshow costs almost as much as going to the theater: The public started to leave the street entertainment and the theater as the ‘penny gaffs’ began to fill. The peep box was adapted to a new fixed and indoors format, emerging the ‘cosmorama rooms.’ A room replaces the peep box with magnifying lenses in the walls; through them, one can peep paintings (Huhtamo, 2012). The showman would have disappeared: as a street character and as the oral and mobile peep box’s complement.

Kinetoscope Despite the disappearance of peep shows, the peep practice in public spaces continued by creating other media such as the Kinetoscope and the Mutoscope. In 1894, Thomas Edison introduced the Kinetoscope, a machine that reproduces the basic principles of cinema by playing a series of images at high speed to create moving images. A quite precise machine where the lens, shutter, and sprockets run the film moved by an electric motor. The Kinetoscope is a peep media product of its time by using a recent invention such as electric power; a time when machines also began to leave the factories to be part of the cultural and entertainment industry.

Figure 8. An open Kinetoscope peeped by a boy who has to stand on a stool to reach the peephole.

Mutoscope In 1897 a similar device to the Kinetoscope was introduced. Unlike it, the Mutoscope did not need electricity. The images, contained in a flipbook, manipulated by the spectator through the winding of a crank. The effect of the image’s movement was similar to the Kinetoscope’s one. Nonetheless, the spectator could exercise his/her will by stopping, slowing down, or reversing the image. Huhtamo (2005) defines the Mutoscope as a ‘proto-interactive device’ where the viewer stops being the passive observer of the peep box and starts affecting the content in terms of image reproduction speed. This effect modifies the user’s experience allowing him/her to have a personalized experience that responds directly to the desire to explore the image. Unlike its predecessors, which used mostly illustrations, the Mutoscope would use photography.

Figure 9. A man peeping a hand-cranked mutoscope.

Entertainment machines, such as the Mutoscope, were installed in different public places: “street corners, bars, newsstands, department stores and hotel lobbies, waiting rooms at railway stations, amusement parks, seaside resorts, and trade fairs” (Huhtamo, 2005, p. 44). By the end

of the 1880s, all these entertainment machines were finally centralized in the “Penny Arcades.” According to Huhtamo (2005), these machines had a therapeutic function, offering amusement during a working day where the idea of capitalism and constant productivity predominated and where human-machine interaction increased in daily life. If a century before it was the showman who collected the coins, in the Arcade, all the machines were ‘automatic’ and did not require the human-to-human dimension (Huhtamo, 2006). The Mutoscope was a relatively simple machine; it did not need electricity to operate, and once installed, it did not require much maintenance, which would allow it to remain until the end of the 1950s (Huhtamo, 2006).

Additional aspects Considering this research’s motivations, I mentioned some of the main elements about peep media (more or less used in public spaces) through history. Nonetheless, I consider some additional topics that could complement this study and, above all, enrich the project’s development, something that will be seen later in chapter three.

About the importance of the box: directing attention and light The peep media was also developed for private use at home2, as the Zograscope. Invented in 1730, this device allowed observing perspective prints through a lens. The visual effect was practically the same as that produced inside a peep box; both devices even used the same prints. In this sense, the Zograscope could be considered a peepshow but without a box (Huhtamo, 2004, Peepshows, Zograscopes, and Privacy section). Since the Zograscope was designed for private use and domestic social activity, the box’s economic function was no longer necessary (the contents did not have to be hidden or protected from those who did not make a previous monetary transaction as in the case of the street peepshow). According to Huhtamo (2004, Peepshows, Zograscopes, and Privacy section), “it is tempting to associate [the Zograscope’s] open structure with the Enlightenment rationalism, linking the peepshow box with the Romantic mind.” Not surprisingly, Rousseau comments in a letter on the Zograscope and his preference for the peep box, where light can be controlled, and the observer’s attention can focus adequately on the image. Unlike the Zograscope, the peep box would allow the user to isolate him or herself by excluding “the surroundings, providing an experience of visual immersion, anticipating virtual reality” (Huhtamo, 2006, p. 110).

2 This topic has not been considered in this research since the developed project Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was designed for public spaces. For this reason, I didn’t reflect on other interesting peep devices such as the Stereoscope, Kaleidoscope, Kinora, among others.

Figure 10. Zograscope.

Other peep boxes were created for saloon uses, which were called ‘Optical Furniture.’ One of them was the Megalethoscope (1862), which had a lens that would make the optical illusion of depth and perspective. This device’s particularity is that it has small doors through which the light comes into the box. Most of the displayed images were colored photographs on translucent material. In this way, by opening and closing the doors, the viewer could gaze at different states of the same image, simulating day, dusk, and night. Like its predecessor, the Polyorama Panoptique (1849), the Megalethoscope would create the effect of light’s transition and, therefore, the transition of time.

Figure 11. Megalethoscope.

Figure 12. Megalethoscope light transition.

About the theatrical character of the peep box As Huhtamo (2004, Optical Furniture, Handheld Prostheses section) mentions, the peep box presented the image as a “tunnel vision” by emphasizing the depth axis. That is to say, the image was mainly central, omitting the lateral visual space, as in the case of the “stage opening.” The peep box as a miniature stage could be related to toy theatre, which was popular during the 19th century. Originated in England around 1812, this miniature paper theater of about 50 centimeters often imitated existing theaters: scenery, backstage, characters, and script. The prints were already colored or could be colored by the user, who would also have to cut out and assemble the theater. It was a home entertainment activity, where one could present its spectacle to family or friends. An interesting aspect of the toy theatre art form is how it reflects its miniature format onto the original texts it uses as playscripts, by editing and condensing them into shorter forms. This is something that the Lambe Lambe theater would take up again in the 90’s. The toy theatre was part of children’s playtime until the end of 1940. However, from the 20th century onwards, many puppeteers would take up this artistic practice format (Lecucq & Cohen, n.d.).

Figure 13. Toy theatre. Front and lateral view.

1.2. Creating peep media in digital times: Reshaping the inwards

“The proper artistic response to digital technology is to embrace it as a new window on everything that’s eternally human, and to use it with passion, wisdom, fearlessness and joy.” Ralph Lombreglia3

Since the beginning of the 20th century, peep media started to disappear and is no longer part of popular entertainment in public spaces. Nevertheless, as we will see in this section, by the end of the 20th century, the peep practice was taken up again by media artists who reshaped its content.

CCTV: Voyeurism and Surveillance One peep media artwork example is Room of One’s Own4 (1993) by American artist Lynn Hershman Leeson. In this interactive apparatus, depending on how the viewer observes and focuses on the miniature room’s objects, such as the telephone, the chair, and the clothes, the viewer activates the audio/video sequences starring a blonde woman, whose image is projected on one of the room’s walls. What is interesting here is that this sequence can be experienced in seventeen different ways, depending on the optical path taken by the viewer (Kuivakari, 2009). Simultaneously, the observer’s eye is captured by a surveillance camera whose image can be seen on the room’s small TV. The observer confronts him/herself by watching his/her own eye:

“Invited to peep and provided the desired spectacle of femininity staged for the looking, the viewer is, in effect, both captivated and made acutely aware of the equivocal nature of this voyeuristic scenario. The work becomes a self-reflective space of ethical reflection, the critical intervention into the mechanics of spectacle that is one of the consistent features of Hershman’s work” (Solomon-Godeau, 1995, as cited in Kuivakari, 2009, p. 265).

3 (Auboiron, 2007, p.25). 4 Technical details: “Computer, laser disk, projection, surveillance system cameras, monitor, miniature furnishing, 38 x 40.5 x 89.5 cm” (Hershman Leeson, n.d.)

Figure 14. Room of One’s Own (1993) by Lynn Hershman Leeson. External and interior view of the interactive apparatus.

Another example of peep media which uses CCTV images is the artwork of Brazilian artist Raquel Kogan. I saw, what you didn't see5 (2005) is a peep box of mirrors on the outside reflecting the surroundings, a gallery. The mirrors allow the box to camouflage itself in its space. When approaching the peephole, the viewer can observe the gallery’s administrative office captured by a security camera. As a visitor/client of the gallery, the peeper can suddenly watch the gallery’s operational core, a place where the visitor usually does not have access.

Figure 15. I saw, what you didn’t see (2005) by Raquel Kogan. Mirrored peep box and gallery’s office CCTV image.

After seeing these two artworks, it is inevitable to ask oneself: When did the peep media begin to embrace the concept of surveillance? Regarding the dictionary, “peep” is defined as looking quickly and secretly at something, primarily through a small opening or just visible (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.); and its synonym “peek” refers to looking quickly and secretly because ‘you should not be looking at it’ (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). However, we can find that peepshows were not necessarily associated with surveillance. As we have seen in section 1.1. Peep media through history, during their heyday (from the 16th to the 18th century), peep shows were a way of escaping from the monotonous everyday reality transporting the spectator to other places. Nevertheless, this type of travel would become feasible with industrial development, and the beginning of intercontinental migration (see Appendix A). By the end of the 19th century, the

5 Original name in Portuguese ocupação#1.

peep practice would move to the Mutoscope: Even if this device was based on the rapid reproduction of serial photographs - portraits of reality -, these images would still evoke a different scenario to which the viewer could escape.

The 20th century would be defined by two world wars and a cold war which would last until 1991. It was a century in which espionage and surveillance were common political and military strategies that penetrated society so much as to remain in the collective imaginary. A manifestation of this would be the numerous films’ produced about historical events and espionage. More frequently, these movies began to use the Point-of-View Shot as part of their visual language. As well as in its beginnings, in the 1900s6, the Point-of-View Shot would often be presented through an optical device such as binoculars, submarine’s periscope, or simple peepholes through a wall or door, turning the spectator into an accomplice.7 Suddenly, these faraway ‘places where the spectator could not be’ - the virtual journey represented by the former peep shows - became in the 20th century the ‘place where we should not be or should not see;’ the spectator as the infiltrated observer: The voyeur who breaks into the private space.8

Figure 16. James Bond’s From Russia with Love film (1963).

Figure 17. Rear Window (1954) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

6 Grandma’s Reading Glass, shot in 1900 is recognized as the oldest film to exhibit the structure of the Point-of-View shot. According to Dagrada (2014), who studies the emergence of the Point-of-View Shot during the early cinema, the spectator was historically accustomed to observe through an optical viewer such as Mondo Nuovo, the telescope or mutoscope. “[Early cinema’s] spectators have grown accustomed to looking through any type of viewing machine that is capable of expanding the human eye’s perceptive power, so that the eye can access wonderful views that it would not be able to observe otherwise” (p. 76). 7 Dagrada (2014) states that, for example, in James Bond movies the Point-of-View shot not only informs the viewer about the actions of the character, but also influences and invites the viewer to participate in the secret agent’s events. 8 Between 1900 and 1995, Hollywood produced more than 1200 films in which the characters engaged in voyeuristic activities, of which Rear Window could be considered one of the most emblematic films (Denzin, 1995, as cited in Calvert, 2004/2009, p 110).

Since 1960, with the advances in technology and electronics, Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) has become common. Surveillance and security systems transcend political implications to reach the ordinary citizen. One example of this could be the reality soap opera released by MTV in 1992, The Real World. In this program, the selected participants had the opportunity to live together in a luxurious house and be paid in exchange for giving up their privacy: Cameras would permanently record their homelife for 13 weeks (a very similar image to the one we have in Hershman’s Room of One’s Own). As Calvert (2004/2009) points out in his book Voyeur Nation: Media, Privacy, and Peering in Modern Culture, this program would possibly change the boundary between the private and the public, and its success would be a precedent for other television programs such as Big Brother and Survivor (both released in 2000). This is the media context in which Hershman’s and Kogan’s work reflect on privacy and the CCTV images as content. Artworks in which the spectator spies by watching the cameras’ images or confronts him/herself as a spy-spied.

Another essential artwork based on the act of peeping to refer to is Hershman’s America's Finest9 (1990-1994). In this interactive multimedia installation, the peep box is replaced by a gun that takes us back to the beginnings of cinema, at the end of the 19th century, when Étienne-Jules Marey created the chronophotographic gun to study animals’ movement. When shot, this gun- shaped camera froze the motion and captured successive images of birds’ flight. Hershman seems to allude to the image’s power and its value as a weapon, testimony, and proof. Thus, looking through the M16 karabin’s viewfinder, the user can see video footage of the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars’ atrocities in which the United States participated. During the Vietnam War, American television began to broadcast images from the battlefield, allowing the common citizen to witness war. The Pentagon and the media integrated war scenes into commercial television for informative and entertainment purposes, creating what critic Michael J. Arlen called the ‘living-room war.’ “The television had smoothed and contained war’s brutality, introducing it almost imperceptibly into everyday life as something to be habitually consumed at six o’clock along with supper” (Stahl, 2009, p. 22). With the excuse of keeping the citizen informed, these violent and chaotic images of war would turn the audience into consumers of war. The overexposure to war images gradually became something familiar and quotidian. According to Sontag (2003), these kinds of images, which used to shock and arouse indignation, would only make the viewer more insensitive and unable to react. In this spirit, the artwork America’s Finest alludes through the weapon’s trigger to the citizen-spectator’s non-passive condition. By shooting the gun, the viewer takes a photograph of him/herself, superimposing his/her image on the wars’ footage: “Caught in the crosshairs, the viewer becomes the target of his or her own action and as an aggressor, becomes the victim” (Hershman Leeson, n.d.).

9 Technical details: “Gun, video camera, loud speaker, electrics, dimensions of installation variable” (Hershman Leeson, n.d.).

Figure 18. America’s Finest (1990-1994) by Lynn Hershman Leeson.

Virtual and digital realm From the 1980s onwards, computer technology began to be popularized as more households acquired personal computers. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, the information culture and its aesthetics were mainly dominated by two tendencies, interactivity and virtuality (Munster, 2006), which would be reflected in artistic expression. By the 1980s, many artists were already experimenting with the digital environment, its relation with space, time, and bodily experience. In this spirit, it seemed expected to invoke the former peep box’s condition of “virtual voyaging medium” (Huhtamo, 2012) in its ability to abstract the peeper and ‘take him/her out’ of his/her everyday environment. However, like Kogan’s I saw, what you didn't see peep box (Figure 15), the following two artworks to be discussed do not ignore the environment in which the box is located; on the contrary, these pieces contemplate their surroundings as a fundamental and complementary part of peeping.

The Virtual Body10 (1993) by Canadian artist Catherine Richards can be considered a ‘site-specific peep box.’ This piece was commissioned for the Antwerp ‘93 Festival (Belgium) and was created to be presented in a Rococo style room. Through a peephole, the viewer can access a miniature room’s zenithal view, a scaled-down representation of the room that houses the artwork. Through a side hole, the peeper can put his/her hand inside the box, and the composed view by the miniature room, the peeper’s hand, and a monitor that represents the floor begins to take effect:

“The floor pattern on the monitor begins to scroll. In a few moments the spectator begins to sense a body illusion: a displacement of the body, an illusion of motion. One’s hand appears to be infinitely traveling away from the body. Then the arm begins to take the body with it. It is as if miniature space is folded into infinite space, as if stillness is folded into motion. The

10 Technical details: “Electronics, computer, wood, glass, mirror, brass, liquid crystal Mylar, monitor, transparencies. About 4 x 2 x 2 feet” (Richards, n.d.).

body loses all references: inside/outside, giant/miniature, spectator/object, part/whole” (Richards, n.d., as cited in Munster, 2006, p. 87).

Figure 19. Virtual Body (1993) by Catherine Richards.

The work is not based on a purely visual experience but is also corporeal. It is interesting how Richards contemplates the peep box’s environment and replicates it inside. This peep box anchors the peeper by directly referencing the space (a miniature version of the room) and allowing the peeper to observe part of its own body. In contrast to the digital moving images on the floor, this space-body anchoring generates what Richards suggests as ‘dissonance.’ As Munster proposes, this peep box is a unique and simple way to experiment with the changes we might have in the virtual realm:

“This discord leads to a loss of extensive and locative referentiality for the body. Bodies may no longer be sensed as anchor points in information culture. Yet, as ‘The Virtual Body’ suggests, the heightening of corporeal and affective experiences through the very dispersion of bodily location has become a key aspect of information aesthetics” (Munster, 2006, p. 88).

Another artwork that explores the digital experience is Danaus plexippus (2011) by Raquel Kogan and Lea Van Steen. This peep box has a slot on one side and a black tinted glass on the opposite side. The glass reflects the peep box’s surroundings by hiding its interior, but at the same time, by peeping inside the box, one can observe through the glass the surroundings in which the box is located. However, the viewer can see something else than the actual environment: A suspended image of a butterfly superimposed on the exterior’s image.

Figure 20. Danaus plexippus (2011) by Raquel Kogan and Lea Van Steen.

This mobile video-object (curiously it has wheels, so can be moved) “explores new techniques of projection, immersion, and interaction” (Kogan, n.d.). Although the artist defines it as new projection techniques, it seems to use a visual effect based on Pepper’s ghost, first presented in 1862. Henry Pepper would create this visual effect for a play based on Charles Dickens’ The Haunted Man, where the translucent image of a ghost was superimposed on the actor’s appearance on stage. Pepper achieved this effect by placing a sheet of glass between the audience and the stage, reflecting onto the stage the illuminated ghost image of the actor hidden under the stage (During, 2002).

Figure 21. Pepper’s ghost reflection trick.

In the 19th century, the glass would be a material of “middle term,” an almost invisible layer that separates the observer and the observed, an evocative optical mediation itself:

“Layers of transparency halfway between appearance and non-appearance, matter and non-matter, the borderline between substance and light; mist, shade, shadows of shade, gleams of light and half-differentiated radiance, this is perceptible as the imperceptible” (Armstrong, 2008, p. 295).

Something curious about Danaus plexippus is that the Pepper’s ghost effect is used to show - through its magical and dreamlike materiality -, a flying butterfly representing nature. Would this

peep box enclose our reality, one that moves between the real and the digital worlds? Unlike all other peepholes, which are circular and in relation to the human’s eye ‘circular’ shape, Danaus plexippus peephole is rectangular, possibly referring to a website’s search or address bars; a rectangle which is also present in Microsoft’s logo. Just as on the Internet, what the person peeps in this artwork exists in the digital realm, layered over the real circumstances: The digital as a means to explore and reflect reality.

Figure 22. Microsoft logo and slogan (1994).

Peeping as sharing

By the beginning of the 21st century, peep practice would not only continue reshaping the content of its interiors, following the interests of the spectator of its time, but what would also change is what could be understood as its ‘motive’, would also change. I refer to the peep media’s ‘motive’ not as its intention to transport or reveal something inaccessible to the peeper anymore, but as its wish to share a moment.

Figure 23. Look (2012) by Raquel Kogan. A woman peeping through the wall / The camera / The projection of peeping eyes captured by the camera.

In 2012, Kogan presented Look11 (2012). In this video installation, there are peepholes on a wall which the viewer can approach. The experience is not really about what the spectator is peeping at but, on the contrary, the very act of looking into the viewer’s eye. This interactive video installation captures the peepers’ eye and projects a collection of filmed eyes, a permanently

11 Original name in Portuguese o.lhar.

updated projection. As the artist describes it, it is “a visual diary of the people who were there and interacted with the installation” (Kogan, n.d.). In contrast to the previous artworks, Look seeks precisely to share the individual act of peeping and turn it into a collective experience. Two years later, Look was presented in Singapore. For this version, Kogan curiously dispenses of the wall or any other material that separates the peeper from the observed object. There are no longer any boundaries to peep. As shown in Figure 24, the viewer can look directly into the camera; the peephole disappears with the material surface and is transferred into the camera.

Figure 24. Look (2015) by Raquel Kogan.

This artwork brings me back to the concern that Calvert (2004/2009) announced about reality- based media content: The generation of the 1990s and beyond, who grew up watching these television programs, would come to “accept as normal and take for granted the presence of cameras. Far from fearing the prying presence of the lens, a new generation longs to live its life out in full view for all to see” (p. 83). In addition to this concern, technological advances have to be considered; in the year 2000, ‘camera phones’ were introduced (Hill, 2013), and simultaneously, these portable electronic devices began to access the Internet wirelessly via the 3G network (Tocci, n.d.). By 2015, with the popularization of smartphones, our use of technology and media would change drastically:

“These days, average American adults check their phones every six and a half minutes. We start early: There are now baby bouncers (and potty seats) that are manufactured with a slot to hold a digital device. A quarter of American teenagers are connected to a device within five minutes of waking up. Most teenagers send one hundred texts a day. Eighty percent sleep with their phones. Forty-four percent do not ‘unplug,’ ever, not even in religious services or when playing a sport or exercising” (Turkle, 2015, p. 42).

In this context, the Internet and social media would be an extension of that ‘wish to share the private life’ that Calvert announced and which Turkle (2015) would later call “I share, therefore

I am” (p. 62). In her book Reclaiming Conversation: The power of talk in a digital age, Turkle reflects on hyperconnectivity and the development of interpersonal relationships through or accompanied by technology. With digital connectivity, undoubtedly, the face-to-face talk practice has been diminished; and with it, everything that nourishes our empathy and intimacy with the other: eye contact, listening, and paying attention. This last idea leads to the presentation of the closing artistic reference in this chapter, and which inspired this research.

Lambe Lambe theater and the peep practice reappearance in Latin America In 2014, I was called to review the applications received during the open call of the puppet festival I was working for. One of the submitted artworks that caught my attention was an adaptation of the poem The Engagement in the Sepulcher12 by the Portuguese writer Soares de Pasos in a miniature theater format. This was something that I had never seen before and perceived it to be something very special. In terms of budget and production, the performance seemed quite attractive except for one drawback. Although the piece was created for public spaces (something suitable for the festival’s visibility and promotion), and had no major technical requirements (the artist would bring and take care of everything), what seemed to be its most precious feature was also its only drawback: The performances were only for one person at a time. For a festival with free admission, the only quantitative reference to define the activity’s success was the number of spectators. In brief, this work could mean a quantitative disadvantage; although it would receive the same fee as the other international guests, its number of spectators would be much smaller. Even so, after putting forward my case to my boss, this Lambe Lambe spectacle was presented for the first time in Peru. This puppet festival was something unique: When the puppeteers brought objects to life, one could witness a magical moment and, above all, the audience’s moving reaction. The Engagement in the Sepulcher by the artist Luciano Bugmann held its own as an individual experience. As humble and honest as the Lambe Lambe is, it created moments which could move one to tears, to remembering, and to engaging in conversation.

Lambe Lambe theater originated in Brazil in 1989 and borrowed its name from the itinerant street photographers, the Lambe Lambe photographers. Denise Di Santos and Ismine Lima created the first Lambe Lambe peep box. According to research by Cobra Silva (2017), during that time, Denise was a coordinator and teacher at a school in Salvador de Bahia and wanted to address with her students the issue of sexuality and women’s health. For this purpose, Denise made a small doll representing a black woman giving birth; between her legs, a tiny baby was coming out of her body. Initially, the three-minute long performance was designed to be presented atop a table. However, Ismine felt this intimate moment should be shared in secret.

12 My translation. Original name in Portuguese O Noivado No Sepulcro.

In this spirit, inspired by the Lambe Lambe photographers, The dance of a childbirth13 was premiered through a peephole inside a box.

Figure 25. First Lambe Lambe theater piece The dance of a childbirth. Denise Di Santos performing / Peep box’s inward view / Peeping spectator under a fabric.

This Brazilian peep box would be the beginning of a miniature puppet theater movement in Latin America, and therefore, the peep practice’s reappearance in public spaces. In 2014, the Festival de Teatro em Miniatura from Brazil registered 93 miniature theater plays from 10 different countries. Four years later, the total number of registered plays tripled (see Appendix B). As the cradle of Lambe Lambe, Brazil hosted 172 productions, followed by Argentina (36) and Chile (26). The most important Lambe Lambe theater festivals are held in these three countries. A recent example is the Festilambe, a Chilean festival which gathered 25 Lambe Lambe peep boxes in Valparaiso city in December 2020. Despite the circumstances brought about by the COVID- 19 health crisis, the festival was successfully held in outdoor public spaces following sanitary prevention measures. As shown in Figure 26, the Lambe Lambe theater reestablishes the old peep practice in public spaces, even in times of forced physical distancing.

Figure 26. Festilambe 2020 in Valparaiso, Chile. 25 Lambe Lambe peep boxes performing on a square.

13 My translation. Original name in Portuguese A Dança do Parto.

Another interesting work to mention is from the German theater company Laku Paka. Since 1995, roughly in parallel with Lambe Lambe theater, but on the other side of the Atlantic, Günter Staniewski started to perform puppetry plays for one spectator.14 Although his small boxes are open to the public, the boxes’ positioned on the spectator’s knees makes this spectator-box- performer closeness an intimate experience (Cobra Silva, 2017). What would motivate these artists to start doing one-to-one performances? Would this be their reaction to the media and cultural context?

Figure 27. Die Festrede by Günter Staniewski.

Most of Lambe Lambe peep boxes are plays that, analogically and with traditional puppetry, find the format’s value by peeping, witnessing, and sharing an intimate moment. Privacy and intimacy are not approached from a point of view of power and control but as a shared emotional experience (including Staniewski’s works). Through the Lambe Lambe theater, the peep box’s content moves little by little from that ‘private and personal experience that we want to share publicly through the media’ to become something that ‘wants to be shared personally by agreeing on a moment of attention.’

The Internet and its hyperconnectivity have accelerated our work and personal performance. However, as Turkle (2015) states, “this new mediated life has gotten us into trouble” (p. 3). The more we text and email, the fewer phone calls and face-to-face conversations we have. According to studies presented by Turkle (2015), as we converse less, “we are less empathic, less connected, less creative and fulfilled” (p. 13). It is interesting to note the resurgence of one- to-one performances in this mediatized context. The Lambe Lambe theater, rather than making peep practice reappear in public spaces, maybe seeks to preserve the face-to-face experience we are losing nowadays, and with it, conversation, “the most human - and humanizing - thing we do” (Turkle, 2015, p. 3).

14 Original name in German Theater für Einzelgänger.

CHAPTER II

“die gleichung für das 20. jahrhundert: maschinen, materialien und menschen frank lloyd wright, 1930

die gleichung für das 21. jahrhundert: medien, daten und menschen peter weibel, 2011”15

In November 2019, I was taking a lecture about body sensors and data exchange models. One of the projects caught my attention; it was a project where young people were paid for their biometric data with tokens16, which meant tokenizing their bodies. Many questions started to emerge immediately: How could these young people sell their biometric data so easily? What would motivate them? I wondered if - as well as we learn in school about how our body works and how to take care of it - nowadays children also receive this education adjusted to the new technological environment. That is how I started to research children and technology, particularly their use of the Internet, the notion of privacy, and this notion of blended reality - the on and offline life. Following this intention, this second chapter offers a brief review of how children’s digital environment affects their rights and privacy and how art approaches biometric data. Therefore, this second chapter is dedicated to the topics that Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! peep box embraces: children, data processing, and the use of biometric data in art.

2.1. Children’s digital environment

In 1998, two psychologists from Emory University (Atlanta, U.S.A.) studied self-exploration in infancy with twenty babies between three and five months old. What is interesting from this experiment is that the babies’ self-exploration was screen-based. In this experiment, the babies faced a closed-circuit camera and saw their legs in a large monitor: One camera provided a normal and congruent view of the baby’s legs, and a second camera provided a modified view where the baby’s legs were inverted (see Appendix C). Even if these images were modified, the infants could recognize their bodies, understand the difference between the monitor’s image and their bodies’ movements, identifying when the monitor’s image represented them in an

15 Copied from the ZKM’s cafe wall during the study-trip in January 2020. 16 https://www.supa.ai/ (Accessed: 12.2.2021).

authentic and calibrated way and when it did not: Three-month old babies “engage in active visual-proprioceptive exploration of the unfamiliar view of their own body because this view violates an established intermodal calibration of their own body in motion” (Rochat & Morgan, 1998, p. 150). By the time this experiment was conducted, the relationship between children and the screen was already close. Nowadays, one-third of children under two years old spend 90 minutes a day in front of a screen (Hitier, 2020); and babies born between 2010 and 2024 are named, Generation Alpha:

“Generation Alpha are the first generation of children to be shaped in an era of portable digital devices, and for many, their pacifiers have not been a rattle or a set of keys but a smartphone or tablet device. Those aged 8-12 year in the United States (tweens) consume on average 4 hours and 44 minutes of screen time per day for entertainment purposes. This increases to an average of 7 hours 22 minutes for those aged 13 to 18. Such is their multi-screening behaviour that this is expected to increase for Generation Alpha who have been born into a world of iPhones, YouTube and Instagram” (McCrindle, 2020, p. 17).

Children’s rights in digital times Generation Alpha tend to be the children of Millennials, some of them already have an Instagram account even before they are born. Their lives begin simultaneously in private and public spheres, where all online activity leaves data traces. They are children who spend a third of their day in front of a screen watching videos, interacting on social media, playing games, or navigating the Internet (Hitier, 2020). Regarding UNICEF, it seems that “children do not always recognize ‘online’ and ‘offline’ as distinct spaces. For children, online experiences – whether good or bad – are intertwined with the rest of their lives” (Kardefelt Winther et al., 2019, p. 32). The London School of Economics and Political Science (2018) is carrying out essential research about children’s technological environment, their online privacy, and commercial use of their data: “Children’s online activities raise new questions about their privacy and data literacy, their understanding of the online commercial environment, and their capacity to consent.” Through many interviews with children, researchers observed that children usually conceive privacy in terms of interpersonal relationships and not necessarily in commercial terms. And the idea that their privacy and personal information is data, causes ‘considerable puzzlement’ on children.

When the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was written in 1989, nobody was imaging the frenetic development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), how it would influence the next generations, as the Millennial and Alpha, and the new

challenges it would bring. In 2016 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted, which includes specific provisions for children in recital 38.17 However, according to a UNICEF commissioned report, to well safeguard children’s rights online, there are still issues to be defined and improved on:

“i) corporate data collection, analysis and sale of children’s browsing data; ii) use of biometrics; iii) age verification and mandatory use of identity; iv) encryption and device security; v) government surveillance; vi) use of parental controls; and vii) managing reputation online.” (Nyst, 2017, as cited in Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017, p. 10)

In January 2017, this concern materialized with the publication of a Digital Convention on the Rights of the Child18, where the original articles were updated to refer to the digital and online environment also. Here I include two articles as examples:

“Article 8 Governments must protect the child’s right to a name, a nationality and a family life. Every child’s digital identity should be protected from being hacked.”

“Article 16 The law must protect every child’s right to privacy so data should not be collected about them without permission.” (Livingstone, 2017)

As Livingstone (2017) observes, children’s rights have to be reinvented to be effective in the digital environment. While the GDPR ensures broader protection for children, many challenges remain (Livingstone & Stoilova, 2018), not to mention that it is only a regional regulation. Five years after the GDPR publication, General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment was adopted in March 2021. This is the first document prepared “almost entirely online” due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. As Luis Ernesto Pedernera Reyna, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, mentioned:

17 “Children merit specific protection with regard to their personal data, as they may be less aware of the risks, consequences and safeguards concerned and their rights in relation to the processing of personal data. Such specific protection should, in particular, apply to the use of personal data of children for the purposes of marketing or creating personality or user profiles and the collection of personal data with regard to children when using services offered directly to a child. The consent of the holder of parental responsibility should not be necessary in the context of preventive or counselling services offered directly to a child” (General Data Protection Regulation, 2016). 18 A Digital Convention on the Rights of the Child was published as part of the Growing Up Digital report from the Digital Taskforce led by the Children’s Commissioner for England (Livingstone, 2017). The complete version is in Appendix C.

“The pandemic created a context that strengthened digital technologies like never before and consequently became a very interesting context to discover strengths, identify weaknesses, and glimpse challenges about the digital environment, in real- time” (5Rights Foundation, 2021, 5:05).

During the global health crisis, schools closed, and classes migrated to the digital environment. Today more than ever, the protective measures specified in General Comment No. 25 are required: “Children’s online protection should be integrated within national child protection policies” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 5). More precisely, the document specifies:

“States parties should prohibit by law the profiling or targeting of children of any age for commercial purposes on the basis of a digital record of their actual or inferred characteristics, including group or collective data, targeting by association or affinity profiling” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 7).

Likewise, as prevention, the document suggests that States parties should monitor digital services and products used by children from the beginning design stage. This is because, as Shoshana Zuboff - the author of Surveillance Capitalism – mentioned in her interview with a Silicon Valley data scientist, nowadays, “the underlying norm of virtually all software and apps design is now data collection, all software design assumes that all data should be collected” (5Rights Foundation, 2021, 20:27). This kind of business model based on data mining is a potential danger for the children’s civil rights and freedoms, especially for their right to privacy. It is also worth mentioning that General Comment No. 25 affirms the global nature of the digital environment, which makes it cross-border and transnational, and calls on all stakeholders to cooperate internationally to safeguard children’s rights in the digital environment. In this context, it is essential to highlight that, as observed by Helena Kennedy QC, co-chair of the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, although the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most popular in history with 196 signed up countries, the United States of America19 is not party to it (5Rights Foundation, 2021, 58:51).

Children’s biometric data The GDPR defines personal data as any information relating to an identifiable natural person, the data subject: “Name, identification number, location data, online identifier, and specific factors such as physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of

19 “The innovation that is occurring in the United States in the areas of communications, Internet, and telecommunications is much greater than innovation in most manufacturing and even many non-manufacturing industries” (Osenga, 2013, p. 35).

that natural person” (Freitas et al., 2017, p. 415). Even if it is not explicitly, biometric data is included in the personal data definition as it allows the identification of a person. In this sense, biometric data could be comprehended “as any technical means of retrieval or confirmation of the identity of a natural living person using their physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics” (Freitas et al., 2017. p. 416).

In 2017, UNICEF published a report about the challenges and risks affecting children’s privacy and identified three main concerns: 1. Children’s lack of knowledge about the handling of their personal data; 2. The online surveillance by governments; and 3. “[T]he use of biometrics, including, in combination with other technologies, and how it relates to children” (Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017, p. 7). General Comment No. 25 asserts that biometric data processing may infringe on the right to privacy, and “they may have adverse consequences on children, which can continue to affect them at later stages of their lives” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 11). For example, nowadays, some social media can identify children in photos through “tagging” and facial recognition. Also, children are increasingly using IoT20-enabled devices equipped with sensors that permanently collect. These devices can even be toys that, through voice recognition, “identify and recognize children, as well as communicate with them and record their voices” (Nyst, 2017, as cited in Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017, p. 8). A child’s biometric data is valuable information that has to be protected as marketers can use it to design and manipulate children’s online experience (Casarosa, 2011, as cited in Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017). About this, the General Comment No. 25 states:

“The Committee encourages States parties to introduce or update data protection regulation and design standards that identify, define and prohibit practices that manipulate or interfere with children’s right to freedom of thought and belief in the digital environment, for example by emotional analytics or inference. Automated systems may be used to make inferences about a child’s inner state. They should ensure that automated systems or information filtering systems are not used to affect or influence children’s behaviour or emotions or to limit their opportunities or development” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 11).

Education: Becoming citizens of the Information Society As the UNICEF document states, “children (and their parents) are usually neither very knowledgeable about the risks they are exposed to online” (Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017, p. 7). This lack of information is one of the main challenges to safeguard children’s rights in the

20 The Internet of Things (IoT) is a “giant network of connected things and people – all of which collect and share data about the way they are used and about the environment around them” (Clark, 2017).

digital environment; and in response to this concern, several initiatives have been developed to improve children and their parents’ skills to keep track of their data.

One really interesting example is the The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Protection at Schools developed in 2015. This handbook is part of the ARCADES project (Introducing Data Protection and Privacy Issues at Schools in the European Union), which seeks to educate and train children as “citizens of the Information Society.” This project believes that data protection and privacy should be included in school curricula. This educational material was developed as a guide and preparation for teachers for this purpose. The primary aim is to teach children to take care of their own personal data - their privacy - to know their rights, the rules, and the dangers they are exposed to by having a digital identity. As claimed in the handbook, children have to be more aware of their online presence and adopt a more reflective attitude when disclosing their information on the network. In this way, this manual seeks to make children reflect on how they can take care of their digital footprints (González Fuster & Kloza, 2016). These are some of the questions that the handbook proposes to the children:

“Can you imagine a society where there would be no privacy at all? Would you like to live there? Could you think of any problems that would emerge?” (p. 43)

“Who is interested in getting our data, and which obligations must they respect?” (p. 48)

“How to grow up with a digital identity?” (p. 55)

This handbook was used in national teaching centers in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia and addressed the following topics:

“– clarifications as to what ‘privacy’ is; some also explore ‘surveillance’, – significance of these notions in the contemporary society, – suggestions to decide in the first place whether to share personal data or not, – if personal data are shared: – suggestions on how to stay safe on-line, e.g. how to choose a secure password or how to set-up privacy settings in social media platforms; – how to give valid consent for sharing data (when possible for children) and how to withdraw it, – clarification that once information is shared on-line, it is usually difficult to take it down (i.e. the idea that Internet ‘never forgets’),

– available help and possible remedies, e.g. a right to ask a data protection authority for assistance; – the role of parents in protecting their children’s personal data” (González Fuster & Kloza, 2016, p. 34).

Table 1. Privacy education diagram proposed by The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Protection at Schools.

Another interesting initiative is the didactic material Safer Internet in Kindergarten published in 2019 by Saferinternet.at. This material contains exercises that kindergarten children can develop together with their pedagogues and parents. Saferinternet.at understands that children nowadays are interacting earlier with digital media. Therefore children must start developing self-awareness from kindergarten by correctly understanding concepts such as friendship, privacy, and safety in the digital environment (Buchegger & Summereder, 2019). The material also offers tips for safer Internet use, not only for children but also for the pedagogues and parents who accompany the child in the learning process.

Another initiative worth mentioning is Data Detox x Youth, developed in 2018 by Tactical Tech, an organization specialized in human rights and civil liberties within the technological context. The toolkit was designed mainly for young people between 11 and 16 years old, responding to the “increasing demand from educators, parents and young people themselves to create timely, practical resources that speak to young people about their daily struggles and experiences of growing up in a world driven and shaped by digital technologies” (Data Detox Kit, n.d.). The toolkit is for free download21, and the most remarkable thing is that it is translated into multiple different languages: Portuguese (Brazil), German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Burmese, and Basque.

21 https://datadetoxkit.org (Accessed: 6.3.2021).

These are just three of the many initiatives we can find nowadays that seek to empower children by informing them and making them think about their condition as data subjects and how to take care of their privacy in the digital environment. However, it is crucial to understand that this learning should start with the parents. Nowadays, many parents practice “sharenting,” which is the excessive use of social media to share content based on their children (Berman & Albright, 2017, as cited in Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017). In this regard, it is not a coincidence that one of the chapters of the didactic material Safer Internet in Kindergarten is dedicated to the ‘right to self-image.’ This chapter explains to children that not all photographs should be shown or shared. Through a few examples, children and their parents can reflect on when a photograph can be shared through media and when not, and learn about their rights and consent. Being a parent today requires a greater understanding of the changing social and technological environment in which their children are growing up. In this context, mention should be made of the book Parenting for a Digital Future: How Hopes and Fears about Technology Shape Children’s Lives (2020) from Sonia Livingstone and Alicia Blum-Ross. This book presents some of the challenges parents face in times of permanent digital innovation where portable devices, games, and social media are part of family activities.

2.2. Biometric data Art

This section presents four media art pieces which I consider, each due to their own particularity, share the use of biometric data as an interactive element and as a creator of a personalized narrative of the work with Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! I also present an art project that reflects on the production of user data, the use of data as a resource, and how users - individually or collectively -, must take possession of the rights over the produced data. Since these five artworks are not aimed at children, I have considered two pieces developed especially for kids, one dedicated to peeping and the other to the environment creation through CCTV images.

Data as a resource Institute of Human Obsolescence (2016) The artist, activist, and researcher Manuel Beltrán founded the Institute of Human Obsolescence (IoHO) to reflect on the future of labor and its transformation by using personal data as a resource. IoHO developed three main projects that seek to create new imaginaries, reflecting on the socio-political implications of the use of user data, racing essential questions about data production, use, and ownership.

For Biological Labor (2015), Beltrán hired human workers to wear bodysuits that harvest their residual body heat to produce electricity. This electricity is used to run a microcomputer (Raspberry Pi) that produces cryptocurrency. With this project, Beltrán understands that data production is a way of working: “Is it that we all have become 24/7 workers producing data in every step we do?” (re:publica, 2018, 4:45). In his quest to find the answer to this question, Beltrán creates the installation Data Production Labor (2017), where participants perform two- minute work shifts, during which they have to place their cell phone on a table and scroll down in their social media feed. One camera records the cell phone screen, and another camera is used for the facial recognition system, this tracks the participant’s facial reactions while checking the social media feed. At the end of the shift, the participant receives a receipt that suggests the participant demand ownership of his/her data production. “This is a way to reveal that we are not just producing data when we create content or like something on Facebook, but the simple fact of scrolling down in your timeline is already producing information, of what kind of speed you are scrolling, what kind of attention, in which posts you stopped or in which ones you just scrolled fast” (re:publica, 2018, 6:28). As Beltrán suggested, we have become invisible workers. This idea led him to form in 2017 the Data Workers Union, a political initiative that demands ownership over the production of data, not just for individuals but collectively. “Why don't we approach Big Data as something that serves civilian society instead of these private or Nation- State actors? This is one of the main questions that we are discussing now. Who should own this production of data? For which purposes? What are also the limits between Big Data that

we collectively produce or my personal data?” (re:publica, 2018, 11:45). Data Workers Union established the Data Labour Rights and understands that the user, as a data-worker/data-source, is an unrecognized and exploited workforce by monopolistic companies that form part of a multi- billion industry based on Big Data (Data Workers Union, 2017).

Figure 28. Biological Labor (2015) by Manuel Beltrán / Human worker wearing a bodysuit that harvests his residual body heat used to produce cryptocurrency / Data Production Labor (2017) by Manuel Beltrán / Assembly of Data Workers Union in The Hague (2017).

Breathing as a representation of life Last Breath by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (2012) Defined as a ‘biometric portrait,’ this installation seeks to be the living memory of an artist by storing and circulating his/her breath forever (Lozano-Hemmer, n.d.). A paper bag contains the artist’s breath; the first edition holds the breath of Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, the second, the breath of American composer and accordionist Pauline Oliveros. Breathing circulates permanently between the paper bag and the motorized bellows, similar to those found in artificial respirators (Lozano-Hemmer, n.d.).

Breathing as an element of interaction with the environment Psithaura by Evan Tedlock (2018) This video installation reflects human relationships with nature, specifically the symbiotic relationship with plants (Rousset, 2018). When participants breathe into the different plant pods, they can modify the video effects. The CO2 emitted by the participants is used to personalize the audiovisual experience of the installation.

Figure 29. Omara Portuondo singer breathing inside the paper bag / Last Breath (2012) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Psithaura (2018) by Evan Tedlock / Psithaura breathing pod.

Externalizing the heartbeat and placing it in other’s hand Heartbeat Picnic by Junji Watanabe, Yui Kawaguchi, Kyosuke Sakakura, and Hideyuki Ando (2010) In this workshop, the participant can hear and touch his/her heartbeat through a vibration speaker providing “a gut feeling of living self” (Watanabe, 2010). By externalizing and materializing the heartbeat, the participant can also share it with others. This workshop was held for the general public, including children. In 2019 it would become Heartbeat Talk, an installation that allows the interlocutors to feel each other’s heartbeat, in so doing, deepening empathy.

Amplifying the heartbeat through the environment Pulse Park by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (2008) Lozano-Hemmer has several works based on the use of the heartbeat. However, I find this work special because it takes place in a park, a living outdoor space. “The result is a poetic expression of our vital signs, transforming the public space into a fleeting architecture of light and movement” (Lozano-Hemmer, n.d.).

Figure 30. Heartbeat Picnic (2010) by Junji Watanabe, Yui Kawaguchi, Kyosuke Sakakura, and Hideyuki Ando / Heartbeat Talk (2019) by ICC Social Haptics Lab / Pulse Park (2008) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: A visitor holding the sensor sculpture that reads biometric rhythms and the park’s aerial view showing the lighting design based on the visitors’ biometric data.

Peeping myself Scale Scopic by Kunie Hiyamizu and Kenichi Okada from FuwariLab (2014) While peeping, the visitor’s giant shadow is projected onto the wall, and on it, his/her own peeping eyes are projected. “The visitor can now overview the exhibition space from the elevated perspective of that large shadow, and thus enjoy the feeling of observing the world through a giant’s eyes” (ICC Intercommunication Center, 2014).

Using CCTV images for redrawing the environment while playing Paramodel Joint Factory by Paramodel duo Yasuhiko Hayashi and Yusuke Nakano (2014) Paramodel duo started in 2001 to create site-specific installations with toys, especially with blue plastic train tracks to create three-dimensional spaces and landscapes. Paramodel made a particular version for children, Paramodel Joint Factory (2014), a hands-on installation where children can assemble their own connections and train tracks. While the children play, a camera

records them, and the images are projected on the walls, “what looks like one large graffiti” (ICC Intercommunication Center, 2014).

Figure 31. Scale Scopic (2014) by Kunie Hiyamizu and Kenichi Okada from FuwariLab: The peeper large shadow on the wall with his/her eyes image projection / A kid peeping himself by overviewing the exhibition space from the high / Paramodelic-graffiti by Paramodel at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) / Paramodel Joint Factory (2014) by Paramodel.

These two projects were designed especially for children and were presented in the Inspiring Questions - Questioning Inspiration exhibition of the ICC Kids Program 2014. Although these works are not related to biometric data, I think it is important to mention them because 1. They are part of an exhibition designed especially for children that seek to broaden their perspective by offering them the possibility of observing reality from another point of view. 2. FuwariLab is an example of how media artists can work specifically for children and address complex issues such as surveillance in a playful way. 3. Renowned artists such as Paramodel can collaborate to create works for children or adapt their works to children’s format. The ICC Kids Program is an excellent example of how media art can be delivered to children and, above all, how media art can help children reflect on their environment. The ICC Kids Program is an essential reference for DADÁ-TATÁ, a project I will introduce in chapter three.

CHAPTER III

“I would like to obtain clarity about what really happens with my data… Why collect it? How is it being collected? I am ... worried about my data being shared” Children’s testimonies mentioned in the General Comment No. 2522

In late 2019, while researching efforts to update children’s rights in the digital environment and improve their digital and data literacy, I realized that the cultural offer for children also needed to be part of this change. This is how I conceived DADÁ-TATÁ project, an alternative to collaborate with these efforts from the artistic field, adding technology and topics as biometric data and privacy into children’s cultural agenda. This third chapter presents the first proposal of DADÁ-TATÁ and the development of Track-track: Let’s follow the cat!, the first piece I made as part of the DADÁ-TATÁ project.

3.1. DADÁ-TATÁ: Cultural actions to develop children’s digital awareness

Children’s environment is changing with the development of new technologies and it is changing how they interact with this new reality and how they recognize themselves within this context. This new environment implies changes, risks, and challenges. Since school, children learn about the anatomy of their bodies and their bodies’ boundaries in social interaction; they learn about children’s rights and how to defend them. But what about their digital body extension? And therefore, their rights in the virtual realm? This new context demands to reflect on the care adults have to provide to children, and at the same time, the awareness children have to develop in this digital mixed reality.

When I worked as a producer from 2011 to 2018, I saw many pieces for children: theater, puppets, clowns. And I understood that children are a particular and important audience that deserves special attention. By looking back to this experience, I realized that children’s online and offline cultural offers are not always level (at least in Peru) and that there is a gap between formats, techniques, and topics. This thought became even more evident when I saw the privacy

22 (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 1).

education diagram proposed by The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Protection at Schools (Table 1). I instantly thought cultural entities should be present in column Who?, artists should also be included in column To whom? And so on. That is how I started to fill in the diagram and conceive the DADÁ-TATÁ project.

Who? To whom? Where? How? What?

- cultural - children & - educational - cultural agenda - everything initiatives: parents institutions related to institutions, - teachers & - cultural centers for children: children's digital associations, etc. carers - community - performances environment - cultural - artists centers - exhibitions (changes, risks, industry (including - museums - children’s book and challenges) students) - workshops

for artists: - workshops - talks - open calls & commissions

Table 2. DADÁ-TATÁ project diagram based on the privacy education diagram proposed by The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Protection at Schools.

The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Protection at Schools proposes that children’s “ ‘digital nativity’ should be complemented and balanced with a ‘digital responsibility.’ Schools are one of the best places, together with the home, to teach them about all this, treating them like children but also -and at the same time- as real data subjects” (González Fuster & Kloza, 2016, p. 36). The DADÁ-TATÁ project understands that a cultural agenda can complement this education efforts to make visible, through cultural manifestations, the changes, risks, and challenges children face in the digital age. In this spirit, this project seeks to encourage children - and their parents - to “exercise their rights as data subjects” (Viola de Azevedo Cunha, 2017, p. 7), by understanding children’s new environment and the concerns it implies from an artistic approach. This project seeks to reach children and family audiences through cultural manifestations that talk sensitively and simply about this complex issue by taking as a reference the principle of transparency explained in recital 5823 of the GDPR.

First proposal The DADÁ-TATÁ project recognizes that the offline children’s cultural offer does not have many pieces (books, theater, puppets, etc.) related to the digital environment. In this sense, this project seeks to reduce the gap between traditional - non-digital - cultural expressions and the digital

23 “Given that children merit specific protection, any information and communication, where processing is addressed to a child, should be in such a clear and plain language that the child can easily understand” (General Data Protection Regulation, 2016).

environment in which children are immersed. DADÁ-TATÁ aims to update the children’s cultural offer by applying new technologies, not only as a resource but also as a topic, reflecting on their impact on children’s life. These cultural activities strive to create a space for dialogue and learning between artists, children, and parents to reflexively think about our data subjects’ condition. Playfully, DADÁ-TATÁ project’s name comes from the word data. Inspired by the early years of children, when they create new words while learning to speak and communicate with others, DADÁ-TATÁ project is likewise a learning process to acquire data literacy from an early age through creative and cultural activities. In this first proposal, cultural actions are focused on biometric data, the topic which initiated this research and inspired this project. Here are a few ideas:

○ Performances ■ Micro puppet theater for children Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! where the spectator’s biometric data animate parts of the scenography.24

○ Exhibitions & installations25 ■ The surveillance forest. In this interactive installation, children can learn about surveillance systems by playing: ● Find surveillance cameras: Trees will be equipped with many hidden surveillance cameras. The cameras could be in their normal form or also camouflaged, as for example bird-shaped. The children will be provided with sensors especially to identify the camera's presence and also turn them off. ● Become invisible for the cameras using magic capes: Based on the green screen effect, children will become invisible for the cameras by using special capes. Children would be able to see the visual effect through a screen or video projection. ■ Body sensor playground. This playground is equipped with different sensors that allow children to interact and transform the environment with their own data. It is essential to make it evident, so a screen should always show the sensor’s received data. The idea is that through this interactive installation, children can elucidate and recognize themselves as data subjects by visualizing their data. Here are some ideas:

24 This is the first DADÁ-TATÁ project output, which is explained in detail in section 3.2. 25 These exhibitions and installations take as reference and inspiration the ICC Kids Program developed in Japan since 2006 (ICC Intercommunication Center, 2006).

● Water fountain: Depending on their weight, children can change the fountain’s water stream’s height. For example, if they jump or run on the sensor, the water stream changes following the children’s movement. ● Sand box: Depending on their temperature, children can change the sand’s color (projection on white sand). Thermal cameras’ images are also an option. ● Heart pouf: Depending on their blood pressure, children can hear their own heartbeat by lying on a pouf. This installation can be complemented with educational information. For example, to learn about their bodies’ function, the temperature data can be displayed with information about illnesses. Extra information about the thermometer’s history and how technology developed better versions can also be considered.

○ Children’s book During the first years of childhood, reading books is one of the essential activities, and it is mainly done in the company of parents. This makes it an ideal medium to introduce to children and parents to topics such as data-tracing and privacy. The book experience can also be complemented with augmented reality content, mixing the virtual world with the ‘real world’ through a portable device. This format seems ideal for reflecting, for example, on how our offline activities leave a digital trace through the IoT (Internet of things).

○ Workshops ■ Making my anti-facial recognition mask. ■ Exploring the world through a thermal camera. ■ First AID: What to do and how can technology help us in an emergency?

DADÁ-TATÁ project is a cultural and educational program where children, parents, teachers, and artists can share their experiences as data subjects. This program takes place in kindergartens, schools, libraries, cultural centers, museums, or any place where people can gather to enjoy a cultural activity. Performances, workshops, or children’s book presentations are a reason to gather and learn playfully about data literacy.

This project seeks to address two ‘types’ of artists: 1. Artists dedicated to children, and 2. Media artists. There are many artists with long trajectories dedicated to children audiences. Since they are permanently in contact with children, it would be interesting to talk with them and know what they think about children’s digital environment. Talks and hands-on workshops can also be

created for artists interested in learning about new technologies and their artistic application. In the case of media artists, it would be a matter of developing pieces aimed at children.26 Collaborations could even be created between these two types of artists. It is essential to mention that according to the recent General Comment No. 25, the artists dedicated to children, “as professionals working for and with children”, “should receive training which includes learning about how the digital environment affects the rights of a child in multiple contexts, the ways in which children exercise their rights in the digital environment and how they access and use technologies” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 6).

One of the main objectives of DADÁ-TATÁ is to increase the offline cultural offer for children related to new technologies and encourage artists to embrace data literacy in their pieces. This goal can be achieved through open calls and commissions. For example, DADÁ-TATÁ could release an open-call for children’s plays about “Social media and privacy,” where the winner would receive a monetary prize to produce the piece. DADÁ-TATÁ can also commission art pieces from selected artists.27

26 For example Paramodel Joint Factory (Figure 31). 27 This idea takes as a reference the Density 2036 project of flutist Claire Chase. Since 2013, Chase has been commissioning unique pieces for solo flute to different composers. This project aims to expand the instrument’s boundaries and increase the repertoire of solo flute compositions in contemporary music (Claire Chase, 2013).

3. 2. Track-track: Let’s follow the cat!

In this section, I will present my first peep box Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! a micro puppet show for children where the spectator’s biometric data animates part of the scenography. Inspired by the Lambe Lambe theater, this project aims to explore children’s new digital environment from an artistic perspective and the concerns implied around biometric data and the notion of privacy.

3.2.1. Motivation

The more research I did for DADÁ-TATÁ, the stronger the desire to do something special for children related to biometric data. Then, I found a research that helped me to better understand the idea of children’s digital body extension; it was a study done by Bernard Place in a hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit. In 2000, Place studied how the human body, in the process of connecting it to medical technological artifacts, “is ordered, externalized and its boundary extended” (Prout, 2005, p. 108). Place (2000) highlighted how once the body is perforated, cannulated, intubated, catheterized, and connected to the technological artifacts, it is possible to receive the body’s data and detailed examination of its functioning: “The body is literally ‘sorted’ - ordered, ‘out’ - externalized” (p. 175). Doctors use this data to monitor the patient, and it is crucial information for decision-making in regards to treatment. “Place makes a distinction between what he calls ‘child data’ (what is happening within the corporeal body) and ‘data child’ (the visible manifestation of that corporeality through its connection to the surrounding technological artefacts)” (Prout, 2005, p. 108). From this point of view, as Place affirms, the body becomes ‘technomorphic’, where the child’s new body boundary is “composed of both corporeal (skin) and non-corporeal (technological) elements” (Place, 2000, p. 175). This child’s new ‘condition’ is more evident because they are in a pediatric intensive care unit where the technological medical devices that collect the data are in sight and physically connected to the child’s body. In the past, biometric data collection was done mostly in person and the data used by institutions for medical and surveillance purposes. Nonetheless, nowadays, private companies can also collect our biometric data remotely through wireless devices such as smartphones. The data collected in this manner is used for commercial purposes; it can be less specific and precise than the one collected by professional medical equipment, but it is still valuable information when in overflowing quantities. Presently, our daily ‘real-life’ performance extends easily to the digital world; it is not necessary anymore to be wired and physically connected to a technological artifact to produce data. In the absence of this material connection and evidence, some questions start to emerge: How to materialize Place’s ‘data child’? Are today’s children ‘technomorphic’? How can children recognize themselves as data subjects? How to make children’s data visible to them? How to

show children that their biometric data is valuable? With all these questions in mind and with much illusion to make my first peep box, I started to imagine my box. At the end of 2019, I was researching and formulating the DADÁ-TATÁ project for the Multimodal and Social Interfaces lectures imparted by Sabine Seymour and Hideaki Ogawa respectively. During this research process, I realized that the peep box was a perfect format to talk about biometric data, data-trace, surveillance, and privacy. In early 2020, I started to build my peep box in the Media Archeology II workshop framework imparted by Gebhard Sengmüller. The previous research phase took four months and the construction phase another seven months until the work’s premiere in September 2020.

Initially, the peep box’s choice as a format was due to a personal fascination; from the first time I experienced the Lambe Lambe theater in 2014, I have always wanted to build my own box. Nonetheless, after presenting the work to more than 100 spectators and writing the first chapter of this document, I believe that the peep box’s choice as a format is more than opportune. When I wrote the section Peeping as sharing I realized that one-to-one performances, such as the Lambe Lambe theater, can be part of an answer to a latent need of our times, where hyperconnectivity and mediated communication seem to not be enough: Modern life has the shadow of loneliness. How is it possible that since 2018 we have a Minister for Solitude?28 And, that eye-contact parties and hugs parties are taking place to wane loneliness and create real bonds between people? According to one of the eye-contact party organizers, nowadays, we only look into each other’s eyes for a maximum of 3 seconds; in the eye-contact-experiment, the attendees are challenged to hold each other’s gaze for 90 seconds to observe the person deeply. Likewise, according to the hug trainer, humans need about 12 hugs per day to feel full, and the hugs should last about 30 seconds (Y-Kollectiv, 2019). In this context, in which we are looking for a greater personal connection, peep media can also be an opportunity to meet with others and share an intimate moment. It is not a coincidence that the Valparaiso Festilambe 2020 (Figure 26) used as hashtags the phrases “to look into each other’s eyes” and “spreading humanity.”29 In this spirit, the Lambe Lambe theater seeks to share humanity through face-to-face performances, retaking eye contact, listening, and at the same time, revaluing attention in times of multitasking.

Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! is part of this effort to reconnect people and provide children with intimate experiences related to their digital environment without necessarily being immersed in a screen. According to pediatrician Sylvie Dieu Osika, more and more children have interaction difficulties: children who do not accept limits, who do not tolerate frustration, who

28 In 2018, the U.K. had its first Minister for Loneliness (John, 2018), and three years later in 2021, under COVID-19 and social restrictions circumstances, Japan appointed a Minister for Solitude after suicides increased for the first time in 11 years (Entrepreneur Staff, 2021). 29 My translation. Original hashtags in Spanish: #paramirarnosalosojos & #contagiandohumanidad.

cannot express themselves adequately or do not speak. Doctor Dieu Osika asserts that digital media poses a significant risk to children’s health and they should be made more conscious of its impact. One of the treatments she offers her patients with interaction difficulties is eliminating or reducing screen time to increase face-to-face interaction time with family and other children (Hitier, 2020, 4:04).

In this spirit, Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! believes that digital content should not always be mediated by a light screen, and conceives the possibility of using other mediums, like puppets and peep media, to rethink children’s digital environment from that which can be ‘touched with the eyes’ and consider the human factor as something essential. Just as we now can explore the world through digital devices, we must create offline activities for children that allow them to explore and rethink their digital realm.30

3.2.2. The peep box construction

In March 2020, I started building the box. I began the prototype with a cardboard box (39 x 58 x 40 cm), something provisional. However, as the scenography and electronics progressed, I realized that I had to keep the box’s dimensions; otherwise, I would have to redesign everything from scratch. This was my first Lambe Lambe mistake! After talking with other Lambe Lambe artists, they told me that, indeed, the box is one of the first things to be designed. This project was a great challenge; besides being my first peep box, it was the first time I worked with electronics and stage structures. It is the first theater I have built, and so far, it is a learning process that allows me to test many ideas in scale. Until then, I had only worked using scale for videos. For this, I used to set up a scaled stage on a table, design the content and record it with the camera. The final output was the video.31 However, now the outcome would be the stage itself, so for the first time, I had to consider assembly and stability. This meant a significant challenge in the final design since the goal was to make the peep box fit in a conventional travel suitcase. On the one hand, this is for production reasons: I believe that the artwork’s storage is always a factor to consider, including transportation since it may require more resources such as labor, money, or time. On the other hand, there is the nomadic spirit of puppetry - and peep shows - that endures to this day.

The box is made of wood and the other parts of the structure were made of laser-cut MDF. The box is composed of:

30 One project that goes in this direction is Hello Ruby by Linda Liukas. This project started as a children’s book to learn about technology, computers, and coding. Today, the website also offers children activities to learn about these topics through crafts (Hello Ruby, n.d.). In this spirit, Hello Ruby mixes the digital environment with activities that children have been doing for centuries: cutting, gluing, coloring, molding. 31 For more information about my previous video work based on this technique, see Appendix D.

1. The body of the box: The parts are hinged together and assembled by tying the corners. All components, including the base, are adjusted with straps for stability. 2. Double bottom: It is a 3 cm high basement through which all the wiring passes to allow to have a clean stage. 3. Stage light bar: It is located in the upper front and holds 5 LED lights and a fan. 4. Stage machinery: Two structures that support and move the four trees; and a system of ropes that allows elevating the harbor and the ocean. 5. Other elements: The LED lights (4), acrylic clouds (6), and the monitor’s filter are attached to the sidewalls with Velcro. 6. Cover: Piece that partially covers the top of the box with a black fabric attached to keep out the light.

Figure 32. First cardboard prototype with a scale model / Front view of the structure / The final box.

Each peep box is unique as it is usually handcrafted. As Huhtamo (2006) asserts, peep shows were popular during the period when industrial manufacturing did not exist. Although today we have tools like the laser-cut, the peep box’s creation is still handmade. Usually, Lambe Lambe artists would design their boxes for a specific show; one builds the infrastructure, a micro- theater, for the story one wants to tell.

The scenography: Creating the landscape with childhood memories The first piece of scenography I had ready was the ocean that I developed during the Fashionable Technologies I workshop imparted by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson in January 2020. During this workshop, we explored the use of electromagnets to generate the movement of fabrics. I immediately thought of making fabric ocean waves that moved with electromagnets and carried out several tests combining different fabrics with other materials. Although the ocean wave motion did not seem strong enough to me at that time, the peep box’s amplifying effect is impressive: The wave motion is amplified by being contained inside a box and being seen through a peephole 10 cm away. With this amplifying effect in mind, I started to design the scenography and lights based on the peephole view. In the beginning, I wanted to create

the scenography as the toy theatre one (Figure 13). However, when I tried it, the design seemed very ‘artificial’ and flat. When I contemplated the box through the peephole, I understood that I had to inhabit the box entirely and break its square structure. To achieve this, I tried to make every present element three-dimensional and place them at different levels. The final composition should not be flat; it should have different depths and textures.

The construction process started in the context of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis. Suddenly, we were all forced to confine ourselves to our homes. While the choice of materials was deliberate, there is no denying that the conditions lockdown brought about were limiting. In this context of social isolation, the box’s construction was also part of a process of introspection. Every day felt like a Sunday, and between that calm and the hand-craft work, I began to remember many moments from my childhood. The composition of the scenography is full of references and personal memories: The mountains, the forest, and the sea represent somehow the geographical composition of Peru (in fact, the main character is inspired by the Andean cat); the harbor reminds me of summers at the beach, and the structure of the house reminds me of my grandparents’ country house. I felt that this manual work, measuring, cutting, gluing, and painting, was just a continuation of the long hours I spent as a child drawing and creating things. So I spent the days in lockdown creating a new environment, which, curiously enough, is meant to stay hidden inside a box.

Figure 33. Scenography construction.

The soundtrack and the lighting design: Assembling the narrative and emotional body of the work Since my first collaborations with my sister in 2007, the composer Pauchi Sasaki, I became used to working on the visual through sound, and it has become part of my creative process. That’s why it was natural for me to work on the soundtrack first, and then establish the lighting design. For the soundtrack, I chose excerpts from three of Sasaki’s compositions, which I will call Piece A, B, and C: Piece A is a very intimate and slow guitar solo; Piece B expands with the use of vibraphone, Peruvian Cajon, violin and charango; and Piece C is a slightly mysterious and yet playful melody produced by computer. This music is complemented with diegetic sounds that

highlight the puppet’s action or the environment: the sound of the wind, the ocean waves, and the noise produced by insects. I also made my foley sound effects by recording the refrigerator and the cutlery. The soundtrack was assembled in Adobe Audition, imagining the puppet’s movement and displacement in scenography. The audio is played on the performer’s computer and is listened to by the performer and the spectator simultaneously through an audio adapter splitter and two headphones.

I started the lighting design by placing the LEDs at different positions on the set and powering them with coin batteries. This gave me much flexibility to make several tests. Once I had defined the lights’ positions, I made provisional wiring to connect the lights to the Teensy 3.6 and start with the programming. During this process, I realized how complex the wiring would be and that it would be crucial to take into account in the box’s final design since 26 LED lights were installed. Some of these lights are colored LEDs, but others are white lights with colored filters to recreate the theaters’ scenic lighting. According to Milliseconds, the light design’s programming in Arduino was done following the soundtrack, making the lights and sound synchronized. Since this is my first box, it was essential for me to have these two elements fixed and stable to work as a vertebra: If any other element failed, the performance would continue supported by the music and light’s narrative.

Figure 34. Lighting design development and prototype’s bird view.

Using sensors to bring the scenography to life The selection of the sensors was very important since the central theme of the piece was biometric data. The first sensor I defined was the heartbeat sensor that activates the electromagnets placed under the fabric waves, so the waves move according to the spectator’s heartbeat. The second sensor is a microphone; when the spectator blows hard enough to make noise, the module sends the signal to the Arduino NANO #1, and the fan is activated to create the wind. To make the wind visible, I made small windmill flowers out of paper that I placed in the forest and made the tree leaves out of rice paper so that the spectator can see the wind through the motion of these elements. Additionally, because of the fan’s proximity to the ocean

piece, the waves also react to the airflow. The movement generated by the electromagnets and the fan on the different elements and materials makes the scenography look and feel alive.

The last and third sensor was the most difficult to define since I went through several options: temperature sensor, eye-tracking, capacitive sensor, proximity sensor. However, I found all these ideas more complicated than adequate. From the beginning, I intended to use the technology on a DIY level: On the one hand, because with this project, I planned to learn the basics of electronics; on the other hand, I started dreaming about the idea of doing workshops for children where they could also learn about sensors and animate their scenographies with the use of electronics. Finally, Professor Laurent Mignonneau suggested using photoresistors, which would allow me to know how close the spectator is to the peephole according to the intensity of the incident light. The closer the spectator is to the box, the more it obstructs the light modifying the photoresistor resistance. The photoresistors’ data is sent from the Arduino NANO #2 to Processing, allowing the star image’s opacity to be modified. When the spectator approaches the peephole, the stars blink depending on how close or far the spectator is from the peephole.

Teensy 3.6, Arduino NANO #1, and Arduino NANO #2 electronic schematics can be found in Appendix E.

The monitor as the sky and as a reference to the transition of time

This 10” monitor is attached to the back of the box and is connected to the computer by HDMI cable. The screen allows to see the Processing, which shows mainly two parts:

● Starry sky: Image modified according to the photoresistors’ received data. ● Video: This video is played when the performer presses the Play button connected to the Arduino NANO #2. In this video, the spectator can see how the starry sky becomes dawn, and the fish-shaped clouds moving through the sky. Finally, the dusk can also be seen until returning to the starry sky initial image. The animation was made in Adobe After Effects, following the lighting design and the soundtrack.

From the beginning, I wanted clearly to ‘hide’ the screen: I didn't like the screen to be recognizable since it could create expectations in the spectator and distract him/her. I also wanted to integrate the sky (the screen) with the scenography. For this purpose, I placed a textured transparent vinyl for windows in front of the screen to create a diffusing effect.

Figure 35. Monitor’s transparent vinyl filter test.

The puppets The story’s main character is an Andean cat, and it is a puppet 5.5 cm high. The first design was made in plasticine, and the prototype was made with aluminum foil covered with layers of paper and painted with acrylic paint. This prototype allowed me to define the puppet’s structure and the strings. The final version is made of clay and painted with acrylic paint. The cat has a magnet embedded in his upper-right leg, which allows him to catch a fish, which also has an internal magnet.

Figure 36. Andean cat photo reference / Design development until the final version.

The second puppet is a mouse inspired by the location icon of digital maps and GPS navigation system. This puppet is 2.5 cm long and has an embedded magnet at the bottom that allows it to collect the cat’s footprints. These footprints are cut-outs of magnetic sheets painted in the same color as the floor in order to camouflage them. The mouse and the cat’s footprints are covered with transparent UV-Fluorescent paint so that when the performer turns the UV light on, the mouse glows in the dark and can be observed as it collects the glowing cat’s footprints.

These two puppets are manipulated through a 3 mm diameter and 38 cm long wand attached to the puppet’s body through a thread brass spacer.

Figure 37. First design sketch / Mouse puppet final version detail / Mouse puppet during a performance with UV light.

Technical plot

Figure 38. Plot for electronics, lighting design, audio, and video.

System diagram System

Figure 39 .

Micro puppet show system diagram.

3.2.3. The performance

The performance experience is divided into three parts:

1. Outside the box / The introduction and the start of the show The performer carries out the technical setup: Run the Processing (Arduino NANO #2) and activate the heartbeat sensor and microphone (Arduino NANO #1). The performer makes a brief presentation and introduces the sensors to the spectator (Table 3). To start the performance, the performer puts on the headphones, activates the lighting design (Teensy 3.6), plays the music, and stands in a performance position under the black blanket.

Image reference The performer introduces the peep box to the spectator:

Hello, welcome to the micro puppet theater for children Track-track: Let’s follow the cat!

In this puppet show, you can animate part of the scenography with your biometric data: You can move the sea waves, make the wind blow and make the stars shine.

This is a heartbeat sensor. When you put your finger here, the sensor detects your heartbeat, and with it, you can move the sea waves.

This is a microphone. When you see the flowers, you can blow into the microphone to create the wind and move the flowers.

These three are photoresistors. Depending on how close or far you are from the peephole, you make the stars shine.

Make yourself comfortable. Here are the headphones, and when you hear the music, the show starts.

Have fun!

Table 3. The performer introduces the peep box and sensors to the spectator.

2. Inside the box / What the spectator sees The show has a duration of 3 minutes and 37 seconds and tells the story of a hungry Andean cat that makes its journey to the coast to go fishing, unaware that it has some special followers. A more detailed analysis of the performance is developed in section 3.2.4. Breaking down the box’s content and meaning, taking as a reference the Storyboard and Technical script made on a performance’s video documentation32 (Table 4).

3. Outside the box / End of the show and the technical setup for the next performance When the show ends, the performer collects the spectator’s headphones and talks with each of them about their experience or impressions. This intimate moment of conversation between the performer and the spectator is shared in more detail in section 3.2.5. Audience Experience. To carry out the next performance, the performer has to ‘restart’ the box: place the puppets and the trees in the initial position, place the cat’s footprints, among other instructions.

32 https://vimeo.com/467127871 (Accessed: 11.11.2020).

Storyboard & Technical script Track-track: Let’s follow the cat!

1. The cat’s home & the mountains

Time / Image reference Visual description Sound Technical Scene description

00:00 - It is night, and the stars are Piece A, a The performer 00:14 shining in the sky. Some lights guitar solo. checks the turn on, revealing the sensor’s Scene mountains against the function. 1.1 firmament.

00:15 - An amber light turns on, and a Piece A The performer 00:51 cat appears from a house- continues. manipulates the drawer. The cat sets the table The spectator cat puppet. Scene and goes to the fridge. The listens to the 1.2 cat looks into the fridge for foley sound The performer food. The cat returns to the effects of opens the cat’s dining room with ‘empty furniture house-drawer hands.’ moving, with her right cutlery on hand, closes the the plate, house-drawer, refrigerator unfolds the opening, and dining room, closing. opens and closes the refrigerator.

00:52 - The cat jumps onto the Piece A The performer 01:05 mountains and walks among continues. manipulates the them as if looking for cat puppet. Scene something. Slowly dawn 1.3 breaks, and the sky clears. The performer activates the Play1 button (Arduino NANO #2) to play the dawning sky video.

01:06 - It is daytime, and the sky is Piece A 01:19 light blue. The wind starts continues. blowing hard, and fish-shaped The spectator Scene clouds appear in the sky. The listens to the 1.4 cat sees the clouds, jumps for sound of the joy, and returns home. wind blowing hard.

2. The journey through the forest

Time / Image reference Visual description Sound Technical Scene description

01:20 - Green lights start to switch The wind’s The performer 01:49 on; they are on the four trees sound manipulates the that appear, framing a small gradually cat puppet. Scene 2 forest. Other lights begin to disappears, illuminate the green field little and Piece B The performer by little. The cat walks begins to moves the trees’ through the forest until he play, an open system to face finds some flowers. When the and bright the peephole. wind blows (fan activated), melody with the spectator can see the vibraphone, In case the flowers spinning. violin, sensors are not Peruvian working, the

cajón, and performer charango. activates the emergency control to turn the fan and the electromagnets on (Arduino NANO #1).

3. Fishing in the ocean

Time / Image reference Visual description Sound Technical Scene description

01:50 - The ocean starts to light up, Piece B The performer 02:05 and the spectator can see the continues. manipulates the light blue and blue waves. The cat puppet. Scene waves move up and down 3.1 (electromagnets activated) The performer and also driven by the wind pulls the string (fan activated). When the cat system to lift the jumps onto the harbor, the ocean and the harbor rises along with the harbor. ocean, approaching the spectator. The cat leans into the sea and catches a fish. He jumps for joy and turns around.

02:06 - The cat leaves the harbor (the Little by little, The performer 02:34 harbor and the waves return Piece B manipulates the to their initial position) and disappears, cat puppet. Scene follows the same path he and the 3.2 took; he contemplates the spectator can The performer flowers for the last time, hear the releases the returns to the mountains, and sound of the string system to disappears on the right side. It sea waves return the ocean begins to get dark, the lights becoming and the harbor go out little by little, and the louder. to the initial sky darkens. The spectator position. can see the moon and the stars in the sky.

4. The mysterious night

Time / Image reference Visual description Sound Technical Scene description

02:35 - It is already night; everything The spectator The performer 02:46 is dark except the mountains, can listen activates the the cat’s house, the green only to the Play2 button Scene leaves on the trees, and the sea waves (Arduino NANO 4.1 sea. The wind is still blowing, and the #2) to activate and the waves are moving sounds of the Processing (fan and electromagnets insects. opacity layer that activated). Something starts makes the stars to move behind the ‘shine’ according mountains. to the photoresistors’ data.

02:47 - The light from the mountains Piece C The performer 03:30 goes off, and the UV light starts. The turns the UV turns on. From the left-back, spectator can light on and Scene the mouse appears glowing. listen to the manipulates the 4.2 The spectator can also see atmospheric mouse puppet. bright spots on the field that sound of sea coincide with the path the cat waves and The performer followed; these are the cat’s insects. pulls the string footprints. The mouse comes system to lift the down from the mountains, ocean and heads to the cat’s dining harbor. Once the room, and goes down into the mouse leaves the

forest to follow the cat’s harbor, the footprints. Four little mice are performer also glowing on the treetops, returns the sea watching the forest. As the and the harbor mouse walks along the cat’s to their initial path, he picks up the cat’s position. footprints one by one until he reaches the harbor. The Finally, the harbor rises along with the performer turns ocean allowing the spectator the UV light off. to see the mouse closer up with all the footprints it has collected. The mouse walks away along the same path and disappears down the left side. All the lights turn off, only the sky is seen with the moon and stars.

Table 4. Storyboard and technical script based on performance’s video documentation: https://vimeo.com/46712787 (Accessed: 11.11.2020).

3.2.4. Breaking down the box’s content and meaning

I started creating Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! as an attempt to solve these three main questions:

1. How can children recognize themselves as data subjects? 2. How to make children’s data visible to them? 3. How to show children that their biometric data is valuable?

Collecting the data: The spectator as data subject and the data as a resource

“The miniature deploys to the dimensions of a universe. Once more, large is contained in small.” (Bachelard, 1969, p. 157)

In my quest to answer these questions, I came up with the idea of making a micro puppet show for children where the spectator is the data subject, where their data is collected and used as a resource to create ‘something new’ that is in turn, ‘something valuable.’ Thus, from the beginning, it was clear to me that I wanted to work with the spectator’s biometric data and make it visible in a different way; it occurred to me to transform the data into movement to animate part of the scenography. Figure 40, shows how nowadays companies process user’s data and use it to improve their services and products or even sell them. According to General Comment No. 25, data processing “includes processes of data collection, recording, retention, analysis, dissemination and use” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021 February 12, p. 2). Track- track: Let’s follow the cat! replicates the companies’ procedure: The performer collects the spectator’s data through three sensors, processes through the Arduino, and uses it to animate parts of the scenography, ‘improving’ the show’s experience.

Figure 40. The use of data as a resource for Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! and businesses (*any data33).

Following this dynamic of replicating reality, I came up with the story of a hungry cat that goes to the coast to fish without knowing he is being watched (the mouse, the tiny mice in the trees, and the spectator). Although at the end of the show, the spectator sees how the mouse collects the footprints the cat left on the way (data-trace), the story does not show what the mouse does with these footprints afterwards34 (data as a resource).

Visualizing the data through the microworld’s natural environment

“Understand that you are another world in miniature and that in you are the sun, the moon and also the stars.” Origen, Homilies on Leviticus (third century)35

Finally, to solve the third question, ‘How to show children that their biometric data is valuable?’ I decided to use the metaphor and relate biometric data to the phenomena of nature. I wanted to make the data visible in a magical way, and I thought I could demonstrate its value by relating it to the power of nature.

33 “Types of consumer data businesses collect. 1. Personal data: This category includes personally identifiable information such as Social Security numbers and gender as well as non personally identifiable information, including your IP address, web browser cookies, and device IDs (which both your laptop and mobile device have). 2. Engagement data: This type of data details how consumers interact with a business's website, mobile apps, social media pages, emails, paid ads and customer service routes. 3. Behavioral data: This category includes transactional details such as purchase histories, product usage information (e.g., repeated actions), and qualitative data (e.g., mouse movement information). 4. Attitudinal data: This data type encompasses metrics on consumer satisfaction, purchase criteria, product desirability and more” (Freedman, 2020). 34 While I was creating the story, I came up with the idea that the ending could be a scene where the mouse ‘eats’ the cat’s footprints with his family or uses them to build his house. However, I couldn’t figure out how to achieve this alternative ending, whether it be puppets or an animation on the screen, so I decided to dispense with it. 35 (Cirlot, 2020, Macrocosm – Microcosm section).

Figure 41.The representation of the spectator’s biometric data into microworld's natural environment.

This short poem expresses the essence and intention of Track-track: Let’s follow the cat!:

My heart moves the ocean My breathing is strong as the wind My eyes make the stars shine

My heart moves the ocean I was born and raised in Lima, a city which faces the Pacific Ocean. While Lima can be a dense and chaotic city, everything is calm by the sea. One can stop to contemplate the blue horizon and hear one’s own heartbeat intermingling with the sound of the waves. For me, Lima’s heartbeats sound like the sea, to the rhythm of the waves that never stop, that can sometimes calm down and sometimes burst. It is very likely that because of this personal experience, I have decided that the heartbeat data moves the sea waves in this microworld.

My breathing is strong as the wind The decision to create the wind inside the box with the spectator’s breath was quite evident. However, it is worth mentioning that this wind-breath relationship is historical:

“The Hebrew word is ruach, which can mean ‘breath’ and ‘wind’ as well as, more abstractly, ‘spirit.’ ‘Spirit,’ in fact, comes from Latin spiritus, which means ‘breath’ and ‘breeze’ as well as what we mean by ‘spirit’; spiro, ‘I breathe,’ is the basis of ‘respiration,’ ‘expire,’ ‘conspire,’ ‘inspire,’ and so on: when a poet is inspired he breathes in the spirit” (Ferber, 2007, p. 236).

My eyes make the stars shine I wanted one of the sensors to be related to looking due to the peep box format; and the photoresistors made this wish possible. Interestingly, the intensity of the photoresistors’ incident light is the data which makes the stars shine. When the viewer is peeping, the stars shine, referring to the brightness of the eyes, a recurrent metaphor in literature; here is an example of a song lyric:

“Star Eyes, That to me is what your eyes are, Soft as stars in April skies are, Tell me some day you’ll fulfill Their promise of a thrill.” Star Eyes song by Gene de Paul and Don Raye, 1943. (International Lyrics Playground, 2012)

In this microworld, the viewer can observe how powerful and therefore valuable his/her data is by creating the wind, moving the sea waves, and making the stars shine in the sky. With his/her vital data, the spectator animates and brings this micro-world inside the peep box to life. To reinforce the message, at the end of the show, the artist gives the spectator a small card as a souvenir which includes the poem from Track-track: Let’s follow the cat!

Figure 42. Gift card with the poem from Track- track: Let’s follow the cat!

Representing the privacy levels through the scenography The peep box’s limited space forced me to decide more consciously on what elements should be present within the box. In this sense, the scenography design responds to the need to make the privacy levels visible. Since this show seeks to reflect on the data processing and personal data value, it is crucial to clarify that data protection means our privacy protection. During the research I conducted for DADÁ-TATÁ, I found the didactic material Secrets are allowed,36 developed for children from 4 to 9 years old, which seeks to teach children to respect their own privacy and that of others as well as the social rules which apply both in the analog and digital world. This material aims to teach children to recognize the three primary privacy levels:

“Private: e.g., family, best friends, ... (confidential one-on-one conversations). Semi-public: e.g., schoolroom, playground, group of known persons, … Public: e.g., Internet, village square, street, …” 37 (Datenschutzbeauftragte des Kantons Zürich & Pädagogischen Hochschule Zürich, 2019)

This is how I came up with dividing the scenography spaces into these three privacy levels: The cat’s home and the mountains represent the private, the forest and the garden the semi-public, and the ocean the public.

Figure 43. The representation of privacy levels through the scenography.

36 My translation. Original name in German Geheimnisse sind erlaubt. 37 My translation. Original text in German: - “Privat: z.B. Familie, beste Freunde, … (vertrauliche Einzelgespräche) - Halböffentlich: z.B. Schulzimmer, Pausenplatz, Gruppe bekannter Personen, … - Öffentlich: z.B. Internet, Dorfplatz, Strasse, …”

The cat’s house and the mountains

Since a home is the most intimate place where one resides, I thought that the cat’s house could be represented by a small drawer in this microworld since its interior is usually a private space that is not open to anyone.

“Wardrobes with their shelves, desks with their drawers, and chests with their false bottoms are veritable organs of the secret psychological life. Indeed, without these ‘objects’ and a few others in equally high favor, our intimate life would lack a model of intimacy” (Bachelard, 1969, p. 78).

This is how I decided to take the old cabinets as a reference:

Figure 44. Portable cabinet. France, circa 1650 - 1670 / Cabinet with flap. Milan, circa 1580 - 1600.

It is interesting to mention that historically the portable cabinets of curiosities were related to the peep shows since they were also part of the entertainment offer of the time during the 17th and 18th centuries (Huhtamo, 2006). Inspired by these cabinets, I made a cardboard house with a drawer, which serves as the cat’s bedroom, and with doors that open to see the dining room and fridge.

Since the main character is an Andean cat, the whole upper part of the house refers to the mountains’ undulations. To create the Andes mountains’ feeling, I made four layers of mountains, one behind the other. Both the house and the mountains are painted with acrylic paint; as for the style, I took as reference a painting I made when I was reminiscing about the village where my mother lives.

Figure 45. The view from my mother’s house in Ongoy, Peru / My visual memory of Ongoy, acrylic on canvas (2017).

During the house and mountains’ design and construction process, it was impossible not to refer to the traditional Peruvian dioramas Retablo Ayacuchano. The red line that limits the mountains and the cat’s house copies the style of these popular handcrafted boxes that contain miniature representations of historical, daily, or religious events of the Andean people. Apart from the red color, the cat’s house and the mountains are dominated by the use of orange and brown colors, as if alluding to earth’s colors. These are warm colors that invoke the home’s idea as a cozy place, and the amber light inside the house-drawer reinforces this intention.

Figure 46. The traditional Andean Diorama / The cat’s house and the mountains.

The sky and the clouds The sky is an essential part of the story as it is the fish-shaped clouds in the sky that inspire the cat to go fishing. The sky is conformed by the monitor with the textured transparent vinyl and the six acrylic clouds surrounding the mountains and framing the sky’s image.

When the cat finds nothing to eat, he goes to the mountains and walks among them (Scene 1.3, Table 4). Despite being an open space, the mountains are also a form of isolation in their remoteness. And therefore, they evoke privacy and intimacy. Also, being high and closer to the sky “are all associated with the idea of meditation, spiritual elevation and the communion of the blessed” (Cirlot, 2020, Mountain section). When the cat is up in the mountains, the day clears, and the viewer can hear the wind’s sound moving the fish-shaped clouds (the monitor displaying the animation). These clouds can be observed throughout the cat’s journey to the coast and are visible until dusk. The acrylic clouds, which frame the sky and the mountains, have a holographic vinyl that produces a mirrored effect when illuminated (see Figure 47), reflecting the mountains, making the mountainscape ‘grow.’ When the sky is light blue and the day is illuminated, these acrylic clouds appear translucent light blue. The choice of holographic vinyl was inspired by David Gelernter’s metaphor mirror worlds and the idea that we have a ‘digital twin’ residing in “a new dimension of human life based on and fuelled by data” (The Economist, 2020, p. 3). In this sense, acrylic clouds also directly reference cloud storage providers that centralize all data into

big computing factories. In this microworld, the cat has the idea of going fishing because he sees fish-shaped clouds in the sky; clouds that also refer to data storage. Could these fish-shaped clouds refer to the online personalized advertising based on user’s data tracking?

Figure 47. Mountains, sky, and clouds detail.

The forest and the garden Once the cat leaves the mountains, it heads towards the forest (Scene 2, Table 4), representing the next privacy level, the semi-public. This part of the scenography is composed of the trees and the garden.

The trees There are four trees made of aluminum foil, covered with paper tape, and painted with acrylic paint. The trees’ leaves are made of rice paper and are inspired by the illustrations of a Japanese children’s book that my mother used to read to me when I was a child. The color of the tree leaves refers to the Jacaranda tree, a tree native to South America.

Figure 48. Children’s book Pachamama by Haruyo Ie / Jacaranda trees.

The cat, in its journey through the forest, does not interact with anyone. However, if the spectator pays attention, he/she will find some little orange mice in the treetops (see Figure 49). When it gets dark, and the mouse puppet picks the cat’s footprints up, these little mice pop into view because they also glow with UV light (Scene 4.2, Table 4). These little mice high up in the trees refer to the camouflaged city security cameras among the streetlights and the urban landscape (see Figure 50).

Figure 49. The forest during the night with the glowing mice, the cat’s glowing footprints, and the green LED leaves / Tree image detail.

Figure 50. Camouflaged surveillance cameras in Paris, France.

The garden To avoid flat surfaces in the scenography, I added some green mounds to the garden. This garden refers to the Zen garden of the Ryoanji temple in Kyoto, a garden that has 15 rocks placed in such a way that, no matter from which angle one looks at them, one can never see all 15 rocks at once as there is always at least one rock hidden behind another. Curiously, in contrast, this peep box’s garden is made to be seen from only one angle, by only one person. As the spectator follows the cat’s in his journey through the forest (Scene 2, Table 4), these green mounds in the garden create different depths to the field, adding dynamism to the view.

Figure 51. The cat behind a mound / Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto.

Finally, I textured the garden surface with small circular paper pieces of the same size and color as the cat’s footprints made of cut-outs of magnetic sheets. In this way, in daylight, the spectator would not perceive the presence of the cat’s footprints. Only when the UV light is turned on (Scene 4.2, Table 4) can the spectator see the cat’s footprints, the data trace is revealed on the path.

Figure 52. Garden detail, UV light making visible the cat’s footprints by making them glow.

In the darkness of the night, the UV light reveals a second layer to this microworld, which cannot be seen with natural light. The UV light refers to technology and the Internet, where the user requires these as tools to access, create and share information in the digital environment. Through this metaphor, the transparent UV-Fluorescent paint can refer to the process of digitization38 of analog reality: Everything covered with transparent UV-Fluorescent paint can glow in the dark with UV light, just as the computer can process everything that is digitized. Nowadays, most of our actions are digitized with the data tracking of browsers, GPS locations, among others. An unprecedented data collection of our reality that David Gelernter called mirror worlds. However, as this microworld represents it, the digital environment seems to be no longer just a reflection but the same world seen with a different light.

Figure 53. Peep hole’s view from the microworld under UV light.

38 “Digitization: The adaptation of environments, practices, businesses and daily life to include and benefit from digital services and infrastructure. This also refers to the conversion of information into a digital format” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021 February 12, p. 2).

The ocean

The ocean represents the final privacy level, the public. It also refers to the metaphor of the Internet as a maritime domain. According to Jamet (2010), this metaphor is based on “the vastness that is often associated with the sea” (p. 21).

“The sea also represents, at least in the collective unconscious, an almost magical place, a place to be discovered, a place which will keep its mystery, a place which is also potentially full of danger (remember the vision of the sea in The Bible).” (Jamet, 2010, p. 21)

The ocean metaphor helps the user visualize the Internet, turning something technical and complex into something more familiar (Osenga, 2013). Actions related to this digital environment are also part of the metaphor as is using terms such as ‘navigating’ and ‘surfing.’

In the scenography, the sea waves are made of several layers of fabric and a top layer of plastic. While plastic has nothing to do with the nature of the ocean (indeed, it is one of the principal environmental problems), the plastic, in its transparent and artificial quality, alludes to the water’s movement and the human-made artificial environment, the digital environment.

The cat jumps onto the harbor (Scene 3.1, Table 4) and grabs a fish from the vastness of the ocean. This moment refers to the relationship we have with the Internet as a source of information, as a tool for work, study, or entertainment; we users take what we need, we are consumers. However, at what point did users stop being collectors to become the collected? At what point did this ocean start to become a threat to our right of privacy?

It is also worth mentioning that when the cat is on the harbor, it is the moment when the cat is closer to the spectator, closer to the main observer who follows him with his/her eye.

Figure 54. The cat is fishing on the harbor / The ocean with the lighting design / Ocean cenital view detail.

3.2.5. Audience experience

“Through every human being, unique space, intimate space, opens up to the world.” Rainer Maria Rilke39

Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was premiered at Ars Electronica Festival in September 2020 as part of the Interface Cultures exhibition State of Intimacy, which in turn was part of The Wild State: networked exhibition at the Kunst Universität Linz. Subsequently, in October, it was presented at Ars Electronica Center Kids’ Research Laboratory. Both presentations took place in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis. In November 2020, the peep show would make its first presentation in a school; however, this was not possible as Austria started the second lockdown on November 3rd.

These two sole presentations of the micro puppet show took place in very different contexts. During the festival, in the venue where Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was presented, the audience was mostly adult, so it only had nine children spectators. Fortunately, after the festival, I had the opportunity to present my artwork at the Kids’ Research Laboratory, a space designed especially for children, where I was able to perform for 36 children. Below I describe the audience experience during these two presentations based on observation and dialogue with the spectators.

Event Adults Children

Ars Electronica Festival Sep. 2020 73 9 5 days

AEC Kids’ Research Laboratory Oct. 2020 13 36 3 days

Total number of spectators 86 45

Table 5. Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! total number of spectators during 2020.

39 (Bachelard, 1969, p. 202).

Ars Electronica Festival 2020 Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was presented during the five days of the festival, in 2-hour shifts per day, reaching 82 spectators. Before sharing the audience’s comments, I must mention that the spectator’ feedback is received immediately after the performance and given directly to the artist, i.e., it does not enjoy the liberties of anonymity. Although one could question the honesty of the comments, one cannot doubt the facial expressions and the gleam in the eyes which showed the spectators’ emotional response time after time.40

Evoking memories “The tiny things we imagine simply take us back to childhood, to familiarity with toys and the reality of toys.” (Bachelard, 1969, p. 149)

Some spectators after the performance shared their memories with me. One man in his 40’s told me that the green LED lights on the trees reminded him of his childhood; he was very interested in how the box worked and observed the inside from the performer’s place, ‘the backstage.’ A woman in her 30’s told me that as a child, she used to make puppets and that the show reminded her of those times. A woman in her 60’s said to me that she used to be a puppeteer when younger, that she lives in Wels (a city about 30 km from Linz) where every year the International Welser Figurentheaterfestival takes place; she told me that I should present my work there.

The desire to share “As soon as the imagination is interested by an image, this increases its value.” (Bachelard, 1969, p. 152)

A woman in her 70’s, very moved, told me that she would love her grandchildren to see the show. A woman in her 30’s moved to tears said to me that she would like to share this experience with her niece and nephew. After seeing the show, several spectators would say to their companions: “You have to see this.” Some viewers would return the next day accompanied by someone they wanted to show the peep box to. Other viewers came by recommendation.

40 Four spectators said that Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was the best piece they had seen during the festival. One spectator, a 20-year festival regular attendee, told me that the peep show was something special, that he hadn’t seen anything like this before.

A microworld made by hand

“Craft is personal. To know that something is made by hand, by someone who cares that you like it, makes that object much more enjoyable.” Craftifesto41

The viewer perceives the detail and with it the dedication and time. Several viewers perceived the handiwork and said “This is a lot of work,” others asked me directly how long it took me to build everything. One little girl, around nine years old, exclaimed to her father, “Everything is hand-painted!” This must have been something different for her in the context we were in, as most of the pieces presented in the same building as part of the festival were mediated by a screen or projection.

The immersive experience Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was presented in a transit area, right next to the entrance door. The immersion of the spectator in the microworld I consider was due to three main elements: 1. The peep box: The microworld is contained in a box and can be observed just through the peephole. As mentioned in chapter one, for Rousseau, the box was an indispensable element for the immersive experience. It excludes the surrounding environment and allows the user to control the light and, therefore, the viewer’s attention (Huhtamo, 2006). 2. The sound: Unlike the old peep shows that had the narration of the peep showman and some special sound effects (Plunkett, 2015), the Lambe Lambe theater is equipped with headphones that isolate the spectator sonorously. 3. The details: The microworld is built by an accumulation of details and textures that attract the spectator’s gaze. A couple of spectators had the opportunity to see the show more than once and told me that they found something new each time. I should also mention that only one viewer claimed to see the small mice in the trees (Figure 49). As described by a woman in her 30’s, the peep box could serve as a ‘virtual voyage’ device (Huhtamo, 2006) when referring to the show “As a short holiday!”.

41 Written by Amy Carlton & Cinnamon Cooper (Levine & Heimerl, 2008, p. XX).

Figure 55. A spectator peeping at the box and three persons waiting for their turn.

Interestingly the peep box was in front of the room where two VR artworks were being presented. This allowed me to compare both immersive experiences. On the one hand, the VR artworks were arranged with two monitors displaying the headsets’ images. This allowed visitors to see the VR images even if they were not wearing the headsets, making it a shared experience. To discover the VR environment, the viewer must put on the headset and direct the gaze with head movements. As seen in Figure 56, it is a long-distance gaze outward, and one could say it is an exploratory and contemplative gaze. The viewer can deepen the exploration of the virtual space through the controllers. On the other hand, the peep box is a closed box that can only be accessed through a peephole. While some Lambe Lambe boxes are decorated on the outside as if inviting and introducing the viewer to the box’s content, my box has no information to hint at its content. When a girl described the show to her father, the surprised father replied, “All that, inside the box?” As opposed to VR gaze, the peep gaze is short and moves between 10 and 40 cm away from the spectator, i.e., within the spectator’s personal space. The peeper explores the micro-world by concentrating his/her attention on a small area, allowing him/her to discover the detail.

Figure 56. Two VR spectators and one peep box spectator during the exhibition.

I think for some spectators, this peep box was an experience they did not expect. Two men in their 30’s dedicated to research in the field of art and technology showed me their surprise and questioned the concept of immersion: “What is immersive?,” “Immersion can be created by something heartwarming.” A man in his 30’s dedicated to media art said, “It is a more immersive experience than most VR projects.”

The experience with children During the festival, I was only able to perform for nine children. Two of them were under four years old and could not see the whole performance because they looked to their mothers to show them the box’s content (The desire to share); they wanted to see the show with their mothers. Unfortunately, this is difficult since the peephole is designed for one eye only. With children over five, I was usually able to finish the show. All the children were very interested in the inside of the box and how it works, they wanted to see the backstage and find out how the trees moved, for example. No child asked about the sensors or the electronic. One little girl commented that she would like to see something like this again. Several adult spectators told me that this show is not just for children and that I should do it for the general public.

Figure 57. Performance for children.

Figure 58. Sharing the backstage with children.

Biometric data and sensors

Due to the pandemic context in which the performance took place, some safety measures were taken beyond the mandatory use of masks. As shown in Figures 57 and 58, I used a paper protector on the peep box’s surface discarded after each performance. The objects manipulated by the spectator, such as the heartbeat sensor and the headphones, were also disinfected. After the first few performances, I realized that the spectators forgot to blow the microphone to activate the fan and create the wind. However, above all, I recognized that blowing was counterproductive in the health crisis context in which we found ourselves. That is why I decided to activate the fan manually with the emergency control; the spectator would only influence the waves’ movement and the stars’ brightness. I must confess that the Arduino NANO #1 that controls the fan and the electromagnets failed several times. Most of these times, I had to activate the emergency control directly, and on four occasions, this did not work at all, so the show had an ‘inanimate’ scenography. Once, a man in his 20’s said to me, “Something is wrong because the waves don’t match my heartbeat,” indeed, he was right. I had to explain to him that when my sensors fail, I have to use the emergency control that activates the waves with a pre-programmed motion. Another spectator in his 40’s, dedicated to media art, told me that he did not understand the relationship between his heartbeat and the waves. Since these were the only comments I received regarding the biometric data use, I’m not sure how aware spectators are about their biometric data use to animate the scenography. However, one spectator told me, “The data somehow personalizes your own puppet show.”

Enriching the show experience

“The imagination can never say: was that all, for there is always more than meets the eye.” (Bachelard, 1969, p. 86)

The four times that my sensors did not work at all, I observed that this did not affect the show’s development. What did happen was that Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! did not replicate the companies’ data processing procedure anymore (Figure 40), and that therefore the metaphor linking the biometric data to the power of nature was not visible either. This means that the show’s experience was not ‘improved’ by using the spectator data: The show without the activation of the electromagnets and the fan is a conventional puppet show. In this sense, we can understand that the animation of the scenography generated by the sensors collected data are what Roland Barthes would define as catalysers of the narrative, i.e., “[t]hey may add mood and atmosphere to the story” (Schwebs, 2014, Navigation and animation: two types of interactivity section, para. 8). Catalysers are not determinants; they are just ‘expansions’ of those essential elements that construct the story, such as the puppets, the scenography itself, the

lighting design, and the music. The use of the spectator data ‘improves’ the spectator experience; one man in his 20’s commented, “I didn’t expect it to be so animated.” Aside from the sensors, many other elements enrich the show experience. For example, several viewers were thrilled when the cat jumped into the harbor and approached the peephole with the elevation of the ocean; they also mentioned that they liked the effect of dusk.

Agreeing on a moment of attention to creating dialogue It is important to emphasize that thanks to the format offered by Lambe Lambe theater, the performer is able to have this kind of contact with the audience and receive their comments. In the beginning, I often had to summon the audience and ask them if they wanted to see a micro puppet show, and when I told them that it was a three and a half minute show, they accepted without hesitation. In an environment like the festival, having the spectator’s exclusive attention for this short time is a luxury. During this experience, I realized that the spectator likes and perceives how personal this format is, the dedication evident in the work, and the shared intimate moment.

Kids’ Research Laboratory at Ars Electronica Center After the festival experience, it became clear to me that I had to find a way to perform for more children. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to present my show at the AEC Kids’ Research Laboratory during the school holidays in October 2020. Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! was presented over three days, in 2-hour shifts per day, reaching 36 children and 13 adults. The Kids’ Research Laboratory is a space designed especially for children between the ages of four and eight, where they can play and learn about programming, robotics, Artificial Intelligence, etc. While it is an ideal space for my peep show, it was also a challenge to capture the children’s attention.

Figure 59. Peep box setup at the Ars Electronica Center Kids’ Research Laboratory.

During the first day of the performance, I realized that getting feedback from the children was not as easy as from adults. Usually, the adult spectators talk directly; I rarely had to ask. The children, however, probably because I was a stranger to them, did not talk. Because of this reaction from the children, I started to ask them questions immediately after the performance. The following are my observations and the children’s comments, which were probably reduced by my limited knowledge of the German language.

The desire to share The children spectators would also recommend the show and bring their friends or siblings. The most curious thing was that they would explain to them how the box worked and what they had to do, for example, put their finger on the heartbeat sensor. Some curious parents wanted to see the show after their children’s recommendations.

A microworld made by hand

When I asked a little girl of about eight years old, what she liked the most about the show, she answered “The colorful trees.” Then she asked me: “Did you do it all yourself?” and I answered, “Yes, I did it all by hand.” During the construction process, I wanted to make everything as handcrafted as possible with materials that children can identify, materials that use themselves. In this way, I tried to make this microworld familiar to them. Two men in their 40’s referred to stop motion movies like Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Isle of Dogs. When I asked them why, they replied that it was because of the materials and the animated scenography, but above all, because of the gaze, which creates cinematic shots by following the cat’s movement and focusing on its surroundings.

The recognition of the performer On the second day, at the center’s entrance, a girl waved hello with her hand; I automatically responded. Then I realized that it was a child spectator from the previous day. Could this be a sign of the connection created between the spectator and the performer through the peep box? How do they recognize and remember me? A little girl of about five years old finishing the show said to me, “I saw you!” to which I replied, “Where did you see me?” and she answered, “I saw you up there [of the box]!” I found this comment very interesting as it is evident that the child was aware that it was me manipulating the box’s content, that it was me “up there” creating all magic. I wonder if children can also be aware of their digital environment and recognize that behind each website, app, or game, people are designing their experience.

Biometric data and sensors At the end of each performance, as if reconfirming the show’s intention, I explained to the children that their biometric data moved the sea waves and made the stars shine. One boy around six years old made a surprised face when I told him that his heart moved the sea waves, other kids just said, “cool!” On the last day, I had a boy spectator of about nine years old who recognized my peep box’s Arduino; I asked him if he programs, and he said “Yes.” After the performance, he told me that what he liked the most about the show was the trees’ movement and the UV light. Later, he came back with his father because he wanted to see the inside of the box and know how everything worked; I removed the box’s cover and explained everything to them. His father showed such interest and curiosity that I offered to give him a performance, his son encouraged him (The desire to share). After the performance, I asked the boy what kind of sensors he uses, and he said, “Weather sensors, such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, and humidity.” I was amazed, and I asked him what he used them for and what he did with their data, to which he replied, “I show it on an LCD screen.” After this beautiful encounter, I couldn’t avoid wondering,

what this boy’s following projects will be? Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! might inspire this child to visualize data differently?

Continuing the research: School visits After the festival and the Kids’ Research Laboratory experience, I came up with two ideas: 1. I needed to collect more information about the spectators’ experience to evaluate it. 2. My project had a lot to do with education since it is for children. That’s how I got in touch with the Kunstuniversität Linz Media Design Program for teachers dedicated to media education, media art, and media culture. Through them, I met an art school teacher who kindly offered me the chance to perform during her class. For this visit, I drew up a questionnaire42 that would allow me to gather more information about the spectators: What are their favorite activities, what kind of apps or games do they play, do they have a smartphone, and what do they understand by biometric data; as well as questions about their perception of the show and the use of their biometric data. Unfortunately, the visit could not take place due to the second lockdown.

42 This questionnaire can be found in Appendix F.

CHAPTER IV

“To have experienced miniature sincerely detaches me from the surrounding world, and helps me to resist dissolution of the surrounding atmosphere.” (Bachelard, 1969, p. 161)

4.1. Conclusions

A couple of months ago, on March 2, 2021, General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment was published to guide participating States in implementing policies that respect and promote children’s rights in the digital environment. This means that finally, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a pre-digital document published in 1989, is valid in the digital realm. This is a historical event because soon, the States parties will start to update their existing laws and create new ones to safeguard children’s integrity (5Rights Foundation, 2021). This new legal framework will significantly impact the lives of future generations. One of them is Generation Beta, born from 2025 to 2039, a generation that will be surrounded by technology based on Artificial Intelligence and gesture control (McCrindle, 2020). I should also mention that General Comment No. 25 answers one of my first questions about whether children are taught in school to take care of their bodies in the digital world. This document exposes this need by asserting that “[t]eachers, in particular those who undertake digital literacy education and sexual and reproductive health education, should be trained on safeguards relating to the digital environment” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 18). An artistic research that began in 2019 from a concern, finds today, a hopeful outlook.

As part of this concern, the DADÁ-TATÁ project was born, which seeks to update children’s cultural agenda by inserting new technologies, not only as a resource but also as a subject, reflecting on the influence of digital media on children’s lives. In this thesis, I venture to present a first proposal of the project, a set of ideas that establish further research. In this sense, it is essential to mention that General Comment No. 25 highlights the rapid development of the digital environment and urges the authorities to work together with researchers and specialists in the area. This is an ideal context to develop projects such as DADÁ-TATÁ since the new policies should promote research on the impact of technology on children’s lives. General Comment No. 25 also establishes that children’s rights in the digital environment must be widely disseminated “in multiple formats and languages, including age-appropriate versions” (Committee on the

Rights of the Child, 2021, p. 20). In this sense, Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! as the first piece made for the DADÁ-TATÁ project, can set a precedent in its intention to invite children, teachers and people in the field of education to think about data processing through a micro-puppet show.

During this research, I found an image on Instagram that allowed me to visualize why is important to develop projects as DADÁ-TATÁ. As shown in Figure 60, the post presents a street theater where, instead of puppets, Instagram stories are displayed. In this thesis’s context, I believe that this image makes a call to the general public not to commit only to the digital realm and not to forget to enjoy the analog cultural and entertainment offer. And on the other hand, I think it makes a call to artists, demonstrating that children need more than what a digital device can offer them and that they deserve a cultural offer sensitive to their digital environment.

Figure 60. Instagram post about puppet theater by @kane_vidia.

Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! still has many points on which to improve. On the technical side, I am looking for ways to enhance the performance of the sensors. During the first two experiences, I noticed that the heartbeat sensor and the photoresistors do not require much attention from the spectator; their use is almost involuntary. This is not the case with the microphone, as the spectator must blow loudly to make ‘noise.’ For this reason, I am testing an air quality sensor to trigger the fan with the spectator’s breathing. This sensor will allow the spectator to create the wind involuntarily since it works in relation to the spectator’s CO2 emission. This enhancement is inspired by the interactive video installation Psithaura presented in section 2.2. Biometric data Art. On the research side, I have to design a methodology based on the two previous experiences to properly study the spectator’s experience regarding his/her biometric data use. For this first stage of the project, I do not have concise results on whether children recognize themselves as

data subjects or recognize their data as a resource. However, based on observation and the spectator’s comments, I think they have no idea about all of this. But could that be what Track- track: Let’s follow the cat! highlights? This lack of knowledge and awareness? I want to continue with this research and follow how, in the future, in times of greater data literacy, children are more aware of the digital extension of their bodies: “Post-Cambridge-Analytica and post-GDPR children are becoming increasingly aware of how their data is being used online but there are still limits to their digital literacy” (Livingstone & Stoilova, 2018).

Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! received notable comments from the audience during its premiere at the Ars Electronica Festival, either because of the immersive effect of the peep box, the theme it deals with, or the representation of its interior. As presented in section 3.2.5. Audience experience several spectators appreciated the scenography and its handiwork. As presented in section 3.2.4. Breaking down the box’s content and meaning, this microworld alludes to the digital environment, specifically the levels of privacy and biometric data processing. The use of the miniature as a device to deliver knowledge is ancestral. An example of this is the ceramic of pre-Hispanic Peruvian cultures with miniature representations of temples:43

“The model’s oniric power is similar to a toy’s effect in a child’s hands, which transforms it into an instrument to reach the world’s totality and derive forms of knowledge. In adults’ cultural dimension, the miniaturized object induces a similar function because its dimensional scale allows one to reach an idea of totality.”44 (Gavazzi, 2012, p. 27)

In Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! the viewer discovers a microworld inside the peep box built to represent the digital environment. Osenga (2013) had already defined this ecosystem’s metaphor, where “the various components of the Internet can be described as parts of the ecosystem” (p. 51). Osenga proposes that the use of the metaphor is fundamental in creating a common discourse among users where everyone can understand the terms to discuss information and communication policy. After reading her article The Internet is Not a Super Highway: Using Metaphors to Communicate Information and Communications Policy, I better understood why I designed and constructed the microworld scenography in this way. As Osenga states, the digital environment is too complex to use a metaphor defined by a single element (tubes, highways, clouds) since the Internet is an environment composed of several factors. In this sense, I think that Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! manages to show data processing from a

43 See examples in Appendix G. 44 My translation. Original text in Spanish: “El poder onírico del modelo es similar al efecto de un juguete en las manos de un niño, quien lo transforma en un instrumento para alcanzar la totalidad del mundo y derivar formas de conocimiento. En la dimensión cultural de los adultos, el objeto miniaturizado induce una función similar, porque su escala dimensional permite alcanzar una idea de totalidad.”

more palpable and evident perspective through the miniature and the metaphor, where the digital leaves the screen to present itself centimeters away from the spectator’s eye.

On the other side, I believe that Track-track: Let's follow the cat! demonstrates that the peep media continues to have the capacity to embrace the spirit of its time, wishes, and concerns, not only with the subject (data processing) but also with the application of knowledge. As seen in the first chapter, scientific and technological developments such as perspective (Hoogstraten’s peep box, Figure 5), lenses (the Zograscope, Figure 10), and CCTV (Hershman’s and Kogan’s artworks presented in section 1.2. Creating peep media in digital times) were implemented in the peep box. Despite that Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! is not high-tech, this peep box uses Internet widely popular DIY technology. It is also worth mentioning that Track-track: Let’s follow the cat! is most likely the Lambe Lambe box with the most complex use of electronics. Although there are Lambe Lambe artists who use the Arduino, most of them outsource the technical part and none, at the time of writing this, uses sensors. It would be fascinating to follow up on how the Lambe Lambe boxes evolve in using and implementing new technologies in the future. In this sense, the DADÁ-TATÁ project also seeks to create a space for knowledge exchange where media artists and artists dedicated to children can collaborate.

Finally, I think it is important to mention that the peep media takes up with Lambe Lambe theater, the human factor of the old peep shows where the peep showman guided the spectator’s visual experience. This means that the spectator’s relationship to the peep media is no longer a mediated individual activity. The puppeteer exposes his/her micro-world to the spectator, and in that personal space, the artist shares an intimate moment with the spectator. In this spirit, the Lambe Lambe theater not only seizes the act of peeping in digital times but also vindicates it. Huhtamo (2006) wrote:

“Like Lafcadio Hearn inside the Japanese house, we have been turned into attractions for others. Do we have to conclude, then, that peeping has turned into something utterly negative – restraining, subjecting, dehumanizing? Could it also serve some positive goals – be socializing, stimulating, liberating?” (p. 141)

Throughout the process of performing my first Lambe Lambe box, doing artistic research about it, and writing this thesis, I can affirm that in these times, the act of peeping can be a socializing, stimulating, and liberating act. This is why its social-political impact cannot be overlooked. The value of peep media in digital times, especially the Lambe Lambe theater, lies in its ability to bring people together face-to-face in an intimate and immersive setting, moving the spectator, and creating a more human connection.

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Nakamura, J. P. (2020). Seeing Outside the Box: Reexamining the Top of Samuel van Hoogstraten’s London Perspective Box. Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, 12:2 (Summer 2020). 10.5092/jhna.12.2.3 Nyst, C. (2017). Privacy, protection of personal information and reputation rights. Children’s Rights and Business in a Digital World Discussion Paper Series. United Nations Children’s Fund. Osenga, K. (2013). The internet is not a super highway: Using metaphors to communicate information and communications policy. Journal of Information Policy, 3, pp. 30-54. Oxford Dictionary. (n.d.). Peek. Oxford Online Dictionary. Retrieved December 9, 2020, from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/peek_1?q=peek Oxford Online Dictionary. (n.d.). Peep. Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved December 9, 2020, from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/peep_1?q=peep Perriault, J. (1981). Mémoires de l’ombre et du son. Une archéologie de l’audiovisuel. Flammarion. Place, B. (2000). Constructing the Bodies of Critically Ill Children: an Ethnography of Intensive Care. In The Body, Childhood and Society (pp. 172-194). Macmillan Press Ltd. Plunkett, J. (2015). Peepshows for All: Performing Words and the Travelling Showman. Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 63(1), pp. 7-30. https://doi.org/10.1515/zaa- 2015-0002 Prout, A. (2005). The Future of Childhood: Towards the interdisciplinary study of children. Routledge Falmer. re:publica. (2018, May 16). re:publica 2018 – Manuel Beltrán: We, the Data Workers: Challenging the future of labour. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtvYipmFoBg Richards, C. (n.d.). Virtual Body 1993 - Artist Statement. Catherine Richards. http://www.catherinerichards.ca/artwork/virtual_statement.html Rochat, P., & Morgan, R. (1998, June). Two Functional Orientations of Self-Exploration in Infancy. The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 16, pp. 139-154. Rousset, I. (2018, June 19). USC Students Drive Interactive Installation Psithaura with Breath and Cooperation. TouchDesigner by Derivative. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://derivative.ca/community-post/usc-students-drive-interactive-installation- psithaura-breath-and-cooperation Schwebs, T. (2014, March 12). Affordances of an App: A reading of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Nordic Journal of ChildLit Aesthetics, 5(1). 10.3402/blft.v5.24169 Solomon-Godeau, A. (1995). Conscientious Objectification: Lynn Hershman’s Paranoid Mirror. In The Art and Films of Lynn Hershman Leeson: Secret Agents, Private I. Univ of California Press. Sontag, S. (2003). Regarding the pain of others. Diogène, (1), pp. 127-139. Stahl, R. (2009). Militainment, Inc: War, Media, and Popular Culture. Taylor & Francis Group.

Tocci, M. (n.d.). History and Evolution of Smartphones. Simple Texting. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from https://simpletexting.com/where-have-we-come-since-the-first- smartphone/ Turkle, S. (2015). Reclaiming conversation: The power of talk in a digital age. Penguin. UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. (2019). Growing up in a connected world. Viola de Azevedo Cunha, M. (2017). Child Privacy in the Age of Web 2.0 and 3.0: Challenges and Opportunities for Policy. Innocenti Discussion Paper 2017-03. UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti. Watanabe, J. (2010). Workshop “Heartbeat Picnic”. Junji Watanabe: Researches in progress. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from http://www.junji.org/ Wayne, R. O. (2019). Light and video microscopy (3rd ed.). Elsevier Science & Technology. White, J. (2007). Italian cultural lineages. University of Toronto Press. Y-Kollektiv. (2019). Kuschelpartys gegen Einsamkeit - Warum wir uns manchmal einsam fühlen. Retrieved February 27, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nKWIYMA6fw

List of Figures

Figure 1. Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond; Alembert - Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=524716 (Accessed: 8.1.2021)

Figure 2. Athanasius Kircher - Optic Projection: Principles, Installation and Use of the Magic Lantern, Projection Microscope, Reflecting Lantern, Moving Picture Machine, by Simon Henry Gage and Henry Phelps Gage, Ph.D. Ithaca, New York, Comstock Publishing Company. 1914. page 676.scanned by User:Davepape, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3527730 (Accessed: 8.1.2021)

Figure 3. Armstrong, I. (2008). Victorian Glassworlds: Glass Culture and the Imagination 1830- 1880. Oxford University Press.

Figure 4. http://www.chasrowe.com/history/brunelleschi.html (Accessed: 12.1.2021)

Figure 5. https://jhna.org/articles/seeing-outside-the-box-reexamining-the-top-of-samuel-van- hoogstratens-london-perspective-box/ (Accessed: 12.1.2021)

Figure 6. White, J. (2007). Italian cultural lineages. University of Toronto Press.

Figure 7. http://brightbytes.com/collection/peeps1.html (Accessed: 19.1.2021)

Figure 8. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Edison-Kinetoscope- 1894_fig2_237246998 (Accessed: 19.1.2021)

Figure 9. Photo 1: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/49/b7/ef49b7638bb30038c404934298ece47c.jpg (Accessed: 19.1.2021) Photo 2: https://mutoscopeproject.wordpress.com/mutoscope-images/ (Accessed: 23.2.2021)

Figure 10. https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2014/09/03/a-gift-with-perspective/ (Accessed: 22.1.2021)

Figure 11. https://srbijafoto.rs/en/2013/10/20/istorijat-fotografije-megaletoskopija/ (Accessed: 23.2.2021)

Figure 12. Video screenshots (Accessed: 22.1.2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEC4dGWNsnk

Figure 13. Dauerausstellung Puppentheater / Schaustellerei at Münchner Stadtmuseum. Photo by Nomi Sasaki.

Figure 14. https://www.bridgetdonahue.nyc/artists/hershman-leeson-lynn/works/ https://www.lynnhershman.com/project/interactivity/ (Accessed: 3.2.2021)

Figure 15. http://www.raquelkogan.com/v3/ocupacao1/ (Accessed: 3.2.2021)

Figure 16. Video screenshots (Accessed: 9.2.2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGzDjOfmqKQ&list=PLTJ1vUHfuf65p3ddlntwc oPYj8aVfuVu8&index=4

Figure 17. Video screenshots (Accessed: 4.2.2021)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UH10Mm-6tE&feature=emb_logo

Figure 18. Photo 1: https://www.lynnhershman.com/project/interactivity/ (Accessed: 4.2.2021) Photo 2: Video screenshot (Accessed: 4.2.2021) https://vimeo.com/327681108

Figure 19. http://www.catherinerichards.ca/artwork2/Virtual-index.html# (Accessed: 4.2.2021)

Figure 20. http://www.raquelkogan.com/v3/danausplexippus/ (Accessed: 4.2.2021)

Figure 21. Armstrong, I. (2008). Victorian Glassworlds: Glass Culture and the Imagination 1830- 1880. Oxford University Press.

Figure 22. https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/enterprise/microsoft-logos-through-the- years-95489.html?picid=833368 (Accessed: 23.2.2021)

Figure 23. Video screenshots (Accessed: 4.2.2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlXF1en8gXs&feature=emb_logo

Figure 24. Photo by Florian Voggeneder (Accessed: 11.2.2021) https://www.flickr.com/photos/arselectronica/18151089400/in/photostream/

Figure 25. Festival de Teatro em Miniatura. (2019). 3º Mapeamento do Teatro en Miniatura 2018. Mapeamento. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://festim.art.br/mapeamento/

Figure 26. https://www.facebook.com/Festilambe (Accessed: 12.2.2021)

Figure 27. http://theater-laku-paka.de/repertoire/minidramen/ (Accessed: 25.2.2021)

Figure 28. Photo 1 & 4: https://archive.aec.at/prix/showmode/61273/ (Accessed: 19.4.2021) Photo 2 & 3: http://speculative.capital/ (Accessed: 19.4.2021)

Figure 29. Photo 1: Video screenshot (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.lozano-hemmer.com/last_breath.php Photo 2: By Mariana Yañez (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.lozano-hemmer.com/last_breath.php Photo 3 & 4: https://derivative.ca/community-post/usc-students-drive-interactive- installation-psithaura-breath-and-cooperation (Accessed: 18.4.2021)

Figure 30. Photo 1: By Ryuichi Maruo (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/archive/works/heartbeat-talk/ Photo 2: By Keizo Kioku (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/archive/works/heartbeat-picnic/ Photo 3 & 4: By James Ewig (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.lozano- hemmer.com/pulse_park.php

Figure 31. Photo 1 & 2: By Keizo Kioku (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/archive/works/scale-scopic/ Photo 3: https://umma.umich.edu/exhibitions/2014/paramodel (Accessed: 18.4.2021) Photo 4: By Keizo Kioku (Accessed: 18.4.2021) https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/archive/works/paramodel-joint-factory/

Figure 32. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 33. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

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Figure 34. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 35. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 36. Photo 1: https://www.catster.com/the-scoop/andean-cats (Accessed: 21.3.2021) Photo 2 & 3: By Nomi Sasaki Photo 4: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Figure 37. Photo 1 & 2: By Nomi Sasaki Photo 3: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Figure 38. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 39. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 40. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 41. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 42. Photo and design by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 43. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 44. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 45. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 46. Photo 1: https://peru.info/es-pe/talento/noticias/6/24/retablo-ayacuchano--el-arte- andino-que-expresa-pasion (Accessed: 30.3.2021) Photo 2: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Figure 47. Photos by Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Figure 48. Photo 1: https://www.joshibi.net/nike/ex/20130903_ieharuyo.html (Accessed: 31.3.2021) Photo 2: https://hablemosdeflores.com/jacaranda-arbol/ (Accessed: 31.3.2021)

Figure 49. Photo 1: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo Photo 2: By Nomi Sasaki

Figure 50. Photos by Karim Daher (Accessed: 31.3.2021) https://hanslucas.com/sheet.php?id=18514

Figure 51. Photo 1: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo Photo 2: https://blog.bangmuin.xyz/ryoanji-garden-plan/ (Accessed: 31.3.2021)

Figure 52. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 53. Photo by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 54. Photo 1: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo Photo 2 & 3: By Nomi Sasaki

Figure 55. Photo by Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Figure 56. Photo 1: By Nomi Sasaki Photo 2: By Afra Sönmez

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Figure 57. Photo 1: By Niklas Uhl Photo 2: By Afra Sönmez Photo 3: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Figure 58. Photo 1: By Leonardo Ramirez Castillo Photo 2: By Afra Sönmez Photo 3: By Niklas Uhl

Figure 59. Photo by Nomi Sasaki

Figure 60. Instagram screenshot (Accessed: 19.12.2020) https://www.instagram.com/kane_vidia/

Figure A.1. Manning, P., & Trimmer, T. (2013). Migration in world history (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Figure A.2. Bowen, J. T. (2010). The economic geography of air transportation: Space, time, and the freedom of the sky. Taylor & Francis Group.

Figure C.1. Rochat, P., & Morgan, R. (1998, June). Two Functional Orientations of Self-Exploration in Infancy. The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 16, pp. 139-154.

Figure C.2. Rochat, P., & Morgan, R. (1998, June). Two Functional Orientations of Self-Exploration in Infancy. The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 16, 139-154.

Figure C.3. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2017/01/19/an-updated-uncrc-for-the-digital-age/ (Accessed: 19.12.2019)

Figure C.4. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2017/01/19/an-updated-uncrc-for-the-digital-age/ (Accessed: 19.12.2019)

Figure D.1. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure D.2. Photos by Nomi Sasaki

Figure D.3. Video screenshots from performance recorded by Juan Carlos Yanaura

Figure E.1. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure E.2. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure E.3. Designed by Nomi Sasaki

Figure G.1. Gavazzi, A. (2012). Microcosmos: Visión andina de los espacios pre hispánicos. Apus Graph Ediciones. Photo 1 by Mylene D’Auriol Photo 2 by Daniel Giannoni

Figure G.2. Gavazzi, A. (2012). Microcosmos: Visión andina de los espacios pre hispánicos. Apus Graph Ediciones. Photo by Mylene D’Auriol

Figure G.3. Gavazzi, A. (2012). Microcosmos: Visión andina de los espacios pre hispánicos. Apus Graph Ediciones. Photo by Mylene D’Auriol

Table 1. González Fuster, G., & Kloza, D. (Eds.). (2016). The European Handbook for Teaching Privacy and Data Protection at Schools.

Table 2. By Nomi Sasaki

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Table 3. By Nomi Sasaki

Table 4. By Nomi Sasaki / Photos by Leonardo Ramirez Castillo

Table 5. By Nomi Sasaki

Table B.1. Festival de Teatro em Miniatura. (2019). 3º Mapeamento do Teatro en Miniatura 2018. Mapeamento. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://festim.art.br/mapeamento/

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Appendix A: Migration

Figure A.1. Global migration between 1650 and 1940 (boxes showing millions of departures an circles showing millions of arrivals at the main destinations).

Figure A.2. Travel time from London to Bombay between 1830 and 1976 was reduced 500 times in 150 years.

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Appendix B: Miniature Theatre

Table B.1. Miniature Theatre performances registry 2018.

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Appendix C: Children’s digital environment

Figure C.1.“Two functional orientations of self-exploration in infancy.” Experiment setup.

Figure C.2. “Two functional orientations of self-exploration in infancy.” Monitor images.

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Figure C.3. Digital Convention on the Rights of the Child (First part).

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Figure C.4. Digital Convention on the Rights of the Child (Second part).

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Appendix D: Previous video work

Figure D.1. Garden’s final composition.

Jardín Developed for GAMA XIV concert by Pauchi Sasaki at MATE Mario Testino Association (2014).

For this video, I designed a garden inspired by the Ikebana tradition. In the back, I placed a fish tank with water and glitter. By illuminating the fish tank with a flashlight, the glitter transforms into shooting stars. I started to work with miniature and controlled scenographies mounted in my living room at home with this video. Instead of using high-tech equipment in professional studios, I preferred to work at home, experimenting independently without the rental time and cost pressure. With this video, I also started to manipulate the light as a narrative element and complement the scenography design by choosing the lighting colors.

Figure D.2. Fish tank with glitter / Flowers’ setup on a sushi table, mini scenography illuminated by 3 lamps.

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Social dance Developed for GAMA concert by Pauchi Sasaki at The Grand National Theatre of Peru (2017).

I developed this video as a set design for an opera house concert by investigating the interaction between light, water, and multilayered visual composition. This work includes recording projected images creating new video layers and filters with this process: Through a fish tank full of water, I projected a previously recorded image on a scale model of the stage and manipulated an additional light source. This final image was in turn recorded to be projected during the performance.

Figure D.3. Musicians on stage with video retro-projection and lighting design.

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Appendix E: Electronic schematics

Figure E.1. Teensy 3.6. Lighting design system.

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Figure E.2. Arduino NANO #1 sensors.

Figure E.3. Arduino NANO #2 sensors.

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Appendix F: Questionnaire for school visit

Vor der Vorstellung

1. Magst du Puppentheater? ❏ Ja ❏ Nein

2. Hat dir Puppentheater gefallen, als du jünger warst? ❏ Ja ❏ Nein

3. Wann hast du zum letzten Mal ein Puppentheater gesehen? (Im Fernsehen, im Kindertheater, etc..) ❏ Letzten Monat ❏ Vor 6 Monaten ❏ Vor über 1 Jahr

4. Was machst du am liebsten in deiner Freizeit? ❏ Fernsehen ❏ Videos im Internet anschauen ❏ Spiele auf dem Handy spielen ❏ Spiele auf dem Computer spielen ❏ Lesen ❏ Hörspiele

5. Welche Videos gefallen dir?

6. Welche Programme schaust du im Fernsehen?

7. Welche Online-Spiele oder Apps magst du?

8. Hast du ein Handy? ❏ Ja ❏ Nein

Das Wichtigste zu biometrischen Daten in Kürze:

■ Biometrische Daten beschreiben per Definition personenbezogene Informationen zu physischen, physiologischen oder verhaltenstypischen Eigenschaften einer identifizierbaren Person.

■ Biometrische Daten können Identifikation sowie Verifikation einer natürlichen Person ermöglichen. (Von Datenschutz.org, letzte Aktualisierung am: 16. Oktober 2020)

9. Nachdem du diese Definition gelesen hast, was glaubst du sind deine biometrischen Daten?

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❏ Mein Herzschlag ❏ Meine Iris ❏ Mein Fingerabdruck

❏ Mein Atem ❏ Meine Stimme ❏ Meine Unterschrift

❏ Meine Schrittzahl ❏ Meine DNA ❏ Mein Gesicht

❏ Mein Foto ❏ Mein Standort ❏ Meine Geschwindigkeit

❏ Mein Gewicht ❏ Meine Temperatur

Nach der Vorstellung

1. Hat dir die Vorstellung gefallen? ❏ Ja ❏ Nein Warum?

2. Welche Dinge sind dir besonders aufgefallen?

3. Während du die Vorstellung gesehen hast: Wie hast du dich gefühlt? Was hast du gedacht?

4. Hat die Vorstellung besondere Erinnerungen in dir hervorgerufen?

5. Glaubst du, die Katze hat bemerkt, dass jemand sie beobachtet hat? Warum?

6. Was für ein Tier ist deiner Meinung nach das, das in der Nacht auftaucht? (kleines rosa-orangefarbenes Tier) Was glaubst du, sammelt das Tier im Wald auf? Und wofür?

7. Was glaubst du, könnte die Botschaft dieser Vorstellung sein?

8. Hast du bemerkt wie deine biometrischen Daten (Körperdaten) das Puppentheater beeinflussen? Glaubst du, dass deine biometrischen Daten wichtig für die Vorstellung sind? Warum?

9. Ist dir bewusst, dass du jedes Mal, wenn du im Internet bist (auf dem Computer, Tablet oder Handy) Spuren hinterlässt und deine Daten für kommerzielle Zwecke gespeichert werden können?

❏ Ja ❏ Nein

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Appendix G: Miniature ceramics

Figure G.1. Coati, Island of the Moon, Bolivia / Inca Culture miniature (5.5 x 6.2 x 3.2 cm)

Figure G.2. Nasca Culture model (32.5 x 28.7 x 11.6 cm)

Figure G.3. Moche Culture model (13 x 17 x 8.5 cm)

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