“What Does the Nose Know?”

A SELFIE MAGNET PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION

The Nose comments on the “nosiness” of corporations gathering personal data and using it to manipulate our lives through social media. The dark sunglass lenses convey the element of secrecy and paranoia that seems to permeate all levels of government, military and industry in North America. It is clear Big Brother is spying on us. 

Corporations harvest big data to analyze our behavior, beliefs and prejudices to prey on us as consumers and voters. Why do we have no control over the use of “Big Data”? Our privacy and freedom are at risk since we do not know what the “Nose Knows.”

The Nose was fabricated in 2014 for the Gallery Without Walls exhibition in Lake Oswego, Oregon a suburb of Portland. After two years it was shown in the annual Oak Bay Arts Alive exhibition near Victoria BC. In November of 2018 it was installed for two years in the El Paseo Sculpture Exhibition in Palm Desert, California. 

The base, framework and eyeglass elements were fabricated from scrap steel and aluminum.  The nose appendage was made from C&C sculpted dense Styrofoam coated with half inch epoxy.