Obscurity - Paolo CIRIO Artist

Obscurity
2016 - Archival inkjet prints and mixed media.

» Website: Right2Remove.us

Press material
- 4th Press Release, Oct 12th 2018
- 3rd Press Release, June 6th 2018
- 2nd Press Release, Oct 22nd 2017
- 1st Press Release, April 12th 2016
- Press Releases, Right2Remove 2018-2020
- Press Kit, high-res pics & HD videos

- Video essay for the Whitney Museum, 2022
- Video artist's panel talk, 2019
- Video artist's statement, 2018
- Text project recap, Critique on Systems of Justice over the Internet, 2018
- Text on the artwork, research & theory, 2016

- Interview on the artwork for Futherfield
- Interview on the obfuscation for GOOD
- Interview on the advocacy for The Guardian
- Review on the artwork on Frieze magazine

- C&D legal letter from Mugshots.com
- C&D legal letter from US Data Ltd
- Messages and reactions from individuals

- Research & text on the right to obscurity
- Petition for the Right to Remove campaign

- Watch video on the Obscurity project
- Watch video on the Right to Remove

Cloned mugshot websites (deindexed)

Jail.us, Usinq.us, MugShots.us, JustMugshots.us, MugshotsOnline.us, BustedMugshots.us

Selected press coverage
- Interview on the Guardian, U.S.
- Interview WHDT TV, (short), (extended) - U.S.
- Interview on Al Jazeera TV Stream - U.S.
- Interview on the Creators Project VICE - U.S.
- Interview on WIRED magazine - U.S.
- Interview on GOOD magazine - U.S.
- Interview on Fusion magazine - U.S.
- Interview on MIC magazine - U.S.
- Interview on Yahoo News - U.S.
- Review on TIME magazine - U.S.
- Review on The New York Times, U.S.
- Review on Team Human - U.S.
- Review on Le Monde - France
- Review on Monopol - Germany
- Review on Version2, Denmark
- Review on Frieze magazine, UK
- Interview on FutherField - UK
- Interview on Recto/Verso - Italy

This artwork is composed of over fifteen million mugshots of people arrested in the U.S. It obfuscated the criminal records of six mugshot websites by cloning them, blurring their pictures, and shuffling their data. A participatory feature let people judge the individuals arrested by deciding to keep or remove their records from the mugshot websites. The artwork was subject to legal threats from owners of mugshot websites and received support from victims of mugshot extortion. Obscurity explores information ethics and the emotional underpinning of unflattering reputation exposed on the Internet. Beyond reporting on mass incarceration, the social experiment, and the performative hack, the artist also designed the Internet privacy policy Right to Remove, which advocates for the legal right to remove personal information from search engines by adapting the Right To Be Forgotten for the United States.

Selected pictures of installations at the following shows
NOME Gallery; Big Brother Award, Amsterdam; Ars Electronica Center Museum, Linz; DOX Prague;
12th Gwangju Biennale; ISCP, NYC, MIT Museum, Boston.

Video playlist

Selected shows and presentations history
AI Attacks, solo show at Foam Museum, 2024, Amsterdam - Netherlands
Paris Photo, solo show at NOME Gallery booth, Paris - France
Artport, exhibition online at Whitney Museum of American Art, 2022, New York, U.S.
Ok Computer, exhibition at Kendra Jayne Patrick Gallery, 2022, New York, U.S.
Expo Chicago, exhibition at NOME Gallery booth, 2022, Chicago - U.S.
Obscurity & the RTBF, lecture at the Detroit Science Gallery, 2021, Detroit - U.S
Private, exhibition at Arco Art Fair with NOME, 2021, Madrid - Spain
Monitoring Control, solo show at Fondazione Modena Arti Visive, 2021, Modena - Italy
Information Critique, solo show at Museum PAN Palazzo delle Arti Napoli, 2020, Naples - Italy
The Anxiety of Images, exhibition at National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, 2019, Taichung - Taiwan
The Criminal Type, exhibition and lecture at ApexArt Gallery, 2019, NYC - U.S.
Don't trust me, I'm homeless, exhibition at Ed. Varie Gallery, 2019, NYC - U.S.
Exposed, solo show at Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo, 2019, Turin - Italy
Artissima Art Fair, exhibition at NOME Gallery booth, 2019, Turin - Italy
Art Berlin Fair, exhibition at NOME Gallery booth, 2019, Berlin - Germany
Obscurity, exhibition at Material Art Fair, 2019, Mexico City - Mexico
Please Leave This World, exhibition at Maëlle Galerie, 2019, Paris - France
Imagined Borders, exhibition at 12th Gwangju Biennale, 2018, Gwangju - South Korea
Seen, exhibition at Wei-Ling Contemporary Gallery, 2018, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia
Human Plus, exhibition at Palazzo delle Esposizioni Museum, 2018, Rome - Italy
APhF:18 Photography Festival, exhibition at Benaki Museum, 2018, Athens - Greece
Mirror Mirror, exhibition at Robeson Galleries, Rutgers University, 2018, Newark - U.S.
Concrete Truth, exhibition at International Studio & Curatorial Program, 2017, NYC - U.S.
Aesthetics of Information Ethics, lecture at UC Berkeley, 2017, Berkeley - U.S.
Socially Engaged Internet Art, lecture at Gallery 400 for UIC, Chicago - U.S.
Obfuscation workshop, lecture at NYU School of Law, 2017, NYC - U.S.
Right to Re-, exhibition at UC Santa Cruz, 2017, Santa Cruz - U.S.
Big Bang Data, exhibition at MIT Museum, 2017, Boston - U.S.
Big Bang Data, exhibition at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, 2017, Prague - Czech Republic
Month of Photography, exhibition at Museum National d'Histoire et d'Art, 2017, Luxembourg
FaceTunes, exhibition at Bielefelder Kunstverein, 2017, Bielefeld - Germany
Mozilla Festival, exhibition at Ravensbourne College, 2017, London - UK
Out of Control, exhibition at Ars Electronica Center Museum, 2016, Linz - Austria
Big Brother Award, exhibition at Stadsschouwburg, 2016, Amsterdam - Netherlands
Private and Public, exhibition at NOME gallery at 515, 2016, Turin - Italy
Private, exhibition at NOME gallery at 208 Bowery, 2016, NYC - U.S.
Traffic Cam meets Art Basel, lecture at NYU for Art Law Society, 2016, NYC - U.S.