Secret Notes for Humanity, 2014
Public intervention with printed CAPTCHAs, wooden frames, dimensions variable
These CAPTCHA images hang conspicuously in areas subject to public surveillance, displaying secret messages critical of the universal pervasiveness of computers and digital technology. This piece raises questions concerning security, privacy, and the paradox that is a computer regurgitating an image that it cannot itself decipher.
CAPTCHA images are designed to prevent mass phishing and online scams through the use of a man-made algorithm unreadable by current computer technology. We are presented with these CAPTCHA images at various points while using the internet – upon creating a new email account, logging in to something important, or making a purchase – in order to confirm that our presence is human. We process and input the skewed words without a second thought.
Abandoned house in an alley - Sungsu-dong, Seoul
Sunday morning at the bus station - Hannam-dong, Seoul
Emergency telephone box in Seoul Forest - Seoul
Wall next to the persimmon tree of a stranger's house - Yeonnam-dong Seoul
Post of a CCTV camera, around eight o'clock - Wangshimli Seoul
Post of multiple CCTV cameras, daytime - Seoul Forest - Seoul
