All Eyes Are On You

In “Part Three: Discipline” of his book “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison”, Michel Foucault presents his theory of the Panopticon, a prison design that allows for constant surveillance of inmates without them knowing if they are being watched at any given moment. The design features a central watchtower surrounded by individual cells, with each cell facing the watchtower. The design allows for a single guard to watch all inmates at the same time, creating a constant feeling of surveillance and thereby inducing self-discipline and self-regulation in the prisoners.

Foucault uses the Panopticon as a metaphor for modern society, where surveillance has become pervasive and omnipresent. He argues that modern disciplinary power is characterized by constant surveillance and normalization, with individuals internalizing the norms and values of society and regulating themselves accordingly. Foucault’s theory of the Panopticon has been influential in the fields of sociology, criminology, and cultural studies, and has been used to analyze various forms of power and control in contemporary society.



Foucault’s theory of the Panopticon highlights the ways in which individuals willingly conform to societal norms and expectations due to the fear of being caught in a state of non-conformity. In my piece, I wanted to convey this sense of fear and anxiety through the use of bold, bright colors, and the unsettling image of an all-seeing eye.

“All Eyes Are On You” is a colorful depiction of an inverted mirror ball, which is a direct reference to the Panopticon structure. The ball is made up of countless small mirrors, which reflects the image of the observer in all directions, thus creating an illusion of constant self-surveillance.

At the center of the ball is a single eye that represents the watchtower in a traditional panopticon. The eye is always watching, always monitoring, creating a sense of paranoia and anxiety within the individual being watched.