Face ID: A Surveil of Che-Wei Hsu

Face ID: A Surveil of Che-Wei Hsu
Work by Che-Wei Hsu

Opening Reception: Friday, February 6th, 2025, 5:00-8:00 PM
and runs through April 10, 2026

Face ID: A Surveil of Che-Wei Hsu is a lens-based artistic investigation and experience into the nature of surveillance in modern society. Through performance, photography, and installation, Hsu’s work explores the dynamics between being watched and watching, questioning how surveillance influences human behavior and identity. 

Surveillance as a topic of public discourse is growing and more relevant than ever. Hsu says, “I think about the behavior that people would not do in front of other people for example, eating a sandwich on the ladder in front of the webcam.”

Che-Wei Hsu’s playful work runs the gamut from videos of the artist lying down in the shoe section of a Marshalls to photographs documenting strangers painting his face in public. In total, his work addresses how digital and surveillance culture are forms of social control that diminish notions of individuality in public life. Hsu’s work asks, how are you changed by knowing you are observed?