I’d rather be in a dark silence than

I’d rather be in a dark silence than

Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti

4-11 December 2020

I’d rather be in a dark silence than (2020) is a signal isolating/blocking trench coat and the first piece from Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti’s Privacy Collection. The collection is an appendage project to their seminal work On View, commissioned by the SCAD Museum of Art, about the entanglement of social media, convenience culture, extractive technologies, and data privacy.

Created in collaboration with fashion designer Barbara Sanchez-Kane, the coat merges conceptual art, fashion, and function. The visually absurd pockets are lined with military grade fabric to keep wireless technologies offline—a technique primarily used in law enforcement and digital forensics. Devices and RFID objects sealed in the dark pockets are unable to be reached, traced, hacked, nor monitored. This piece doesn’t pose as a solution, but rather a hyperbolic reminder of the experiment we opt into every time we check ‘I agree’ to a problematic T&C.

Tech specs: nickel and copper composition blocks WiFi (2.4 & 5GHz), Bluetooth, cell signals including 5G networks, GPS, RFID, radio signals (80-100dB from 10Mhz to 5Ghz), EMI, RFI, EMF radiation.

“Privacy is fake now”

-Privacy is fake now, poetry written for the exhibition by Tony Cruise

For this multimedia interpretation of the coat, Ti and Catherine collaborated with Berlin-based artists and fellow artists-in-residence to translate the work into other outputs, culminating in an environmental tapestry. They worked with Evelyn Bencicova on a photo series, and created a short film with Mishka Kornai. An AR filter by Aaron Jablonski is discoverable in the space, which is also used in the film. These works demonstrate the coat’s capability to withdraw the wearer’s identity. The exhibition score includes pieces from Amon Tobin, Tony Cruise, with words written/performed by Cruise entitled Privacy is Fake Now.

“Passwords can’t protect you”

-Privacy is fake now, poetry written for the exhibition by Tony Cruise

Credits: I’d rather be in a dark silence than by Dejha Ti and Ania Catherine in partnership with the  Museum of Contemporary Digital Art in London. Fashion: Barbara Sanchez-Kane, Still photography: Evelyn Bencicova, Film: Catherine & Ti, Mishka Kornai, AR: Aaron Jablonski, Performance (film): Daniela Dominique, (stills): Catherine & Ti, Words and voice: Tony Cruise, Music: Amon Tobin, Tony Cruise. Special thanks: Sandira Blas, Martin Eyerer, Oscar Lindahl, Catherine Bischoff, Daniela Skeyki, Factory Berlin, Sonar+D, and Beats by Dr. Dre.

Want to learn more?

• Read the MoCDA interview with Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti

• Watch the exhibition’s Instagram story highlight

• Watch Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti’s Bloomberg Art and Technology Episode 8 : Privacy