This large format experimental essay critically evaluates the enthusiasm of the private sector to mediate human-to-human contact within the correctional, immigration, and healthcare systems. In analyzing advertisements for video-conferencing services in popular media, the piece draws on Althusser’s theory of interpellation to affirm that these forms of mediation apply to the same demographics of people. Considered an “accessible” and “affordable” alternative in response to the demands of overcrowded detention centers and a failing healthcare system, these methods render unmediated experiences such as in-person visitation and court proceedings a privilege available for those outside of the marginal classes.


Against a grey wall, eleven prints on white paper hang from a silver architectural blueprint hanger. The hanger is flipped to the center and shows two images on the sheet that is open: the first image is a screenshot of the homepage for a technology company website, showing a blue tinted stock image of a person holding a child with an iPad; the second image is a mosaic of multiple screenshots from video calls between various callers and inmates holding black telephone receivers.

Against a grey wall, eleven prints on white paper hang from a silver architectural blueprint hanger, the pages turned slightly open to reveal a sliver of the printed images on one sheet.

Printouts of various scanned book pages on rumpled white pages are arranged on a wooden parquet floor, held down by shiny black, blue, and brown stones acting as paperweights.

Large format publication on architectural blueprint hanger, 2' x 44”

References: Carceral Capitalism, Jackie Wang; Negotiating the Mediated City: Everyday Encounters with Public Screens, Zlatan Krajina; The Pixelated Prisoner: Prison Video Links, Court ‘Appearance’ and the Justice Matrix, Carolyn McKay; Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault; Simulacra and Simulation, Jean Baudrillard.

Digital Deliverance