Thoughts on Laura Poitras: Astro Noise and Yeezy
Feb 20, 2016

On a frigid February morning at approximately 5:45 am, I became an extra for Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 fashion show. First, a megaphone announced: “Please have government-issued ID prepared to show. You will not be admitted into the building without your government-issued ID.”

After we were admitted into Madison Square Garden, staff members handed us colored index cards with numbers written on them—these were our identities for the day. I was #193. The staff members pointed us toward coaches and informed us that we were going to hair and makeup and to prepare to part from our cell phones for the day.

 We soon arrived in front of a large vacant warehouse in Jersey City, with racks of L-train vintage-esque clothing. Inside, we were handed large black trash bags that were used to store our belongings and then we were notified that we would be playing “Rwandan Refugees.”  

Closer to show time, we stood underneath a gray sheet. Kanye West briefly walked underneath the sheet to take a glimpse at the stage and thanked a group of extras who were close to him for helping to actualize this idea. Once West’s “Ultralight Beam” reverberated through our bodies, the sheet was pulled and the show began. For the next hour and a half, we were in the center of a fishbowl, being recorded, watched, judged, and praised in the name of Kanye West.

Being a part of this show right after visiting Laura Poitras’s exhibition Astro Noise made me think about topics such as mass surveillance, privacy, technology, and security.

How personal are my personal belongings?

In what ways do we compromise our rights to privacy for “fifteen minutes of fame?”

How aware and comfortable are we with being surveilled?

Are we more likely to believe people with power or authority, even though their ideas can be contradictory?

To what extent is miscommunication or a lack of communication dangerous to the public?

What do you think?

 By Gia, YI Leader