05 Jul 2007

I work on the Identity Card System for the UK Government…

Leafing around for some other stuff I came across this striking No2ID ad. I hadnt seen it in the press.

It makes a powerful point. And it is a bit spooky. Does the model come from the ugly agency? He’s certainly not very appealing: smug, geeky in a bad way, sinister hairdo and weird beard. Does the ad incite racial hatred? He looks Semitic or Middle Eastern of some sort. Let’s file it under pertinent art (which is fair enough) and see what happens. But it wouldn’t be as effective if the model were Joanna Lumley, would it? So it must be playing to stereotypes. But doesnt everything? Ooh, I’m all in a quandary now…

Posted by William Heath on 05/07/07 at 8:18pm
Categories · "What do we want?" · Foundation of Trust · Identity · Pertinent Art

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Ideal Government

Let's say what we want from e-enabled government. Let's observe government first-hand. Let's say "Wouldn't It Be Better If" (WIBBI). Become an ethnographer of bureaucracy today! It beats getting frustrated with public services.

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