Draft
While serving overseas with the CIA, the artist changed hotels due to an issue in his first hotel. People at work had implied that there might be cameras or listening devices in the hotel room. After he arrived in the new hotel, he was lying in bed and looking up at the ceiling. Talking out loud to himself, something extraordinary happened. The flashing LED on the smoke detector started flashing at irregular intervals, as if it was responding to what he was saying. Finally, he asked the smoke detector, “Are you listening to me?” and it flashed affirmatively.
Installation piece involving a simulated hotel room, with art on the walls and a double bed in the room. Participants in the installation are invited to lie on the bed. Above the bed is a smoke detector with a small red LED. The LED is being controlled by an artificial intelligence system designed by the artist.
The participant can speak to the smoke detector, which will not flash unless triggered by certain questions. The smoke detector will flash one for “no,” and two for “yes.” It will respond to a number of questions that are enigmatic but reflect a particular idiosyncratic and highly sophisticated point of view. For instance, the question “Are you listening?” will result in two flashes; “Do you agree with [philosopher Giorgio] Agamben that the state of exception is essential to the concept of state sovereignty?” will result in two flashes.