To do in NYC: "Surveillance Teach-in" at the Whitney, Fri. April 20, 2012

If you are in New York on Friday, April 20, you'll want to attend this special event, offered as part of the Whitney Biennial:


Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras explores issues of war, justice, and power. Her current film trilogy, focusing on America post 9/11, documents the Iraq War, secret state surveillance, and the suspension of the rule of law in the "war on terror." For this evening program, she is joined by Jacob Appelbaum, computer security researcher, privacy advocate, hacker, and human rights activist. Woven through the Museum will be interactive installations by Stimulate. The Surveillance Teach-In is an artistic and practical commentary on living in the contemporary Panopticon.

Free with Museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays from 6–9 pm; there are no special tickets or reservations.

More details here. Both Poitras and Appelbaum have an odd thing in common: repeated harassment and detention by various US government agencies at airports (and ongoing surveillance).

Photo: Laura Poitras, still from Untitled Part III (9/11 Trilogy).