ARTIST: Peter Gabriel

CREATOR: Lamson

SONG: Panoticom (Dark-Side Mix) FROM i/o

Video info:

In the center of the world's largest city lies Panopticon Prison. Its design, sin, and corruption fused with new technology and flesh created a monstrous cyborg that hungered for information. As its tentacles reach farther and farther, the monster turns the entire city into its parts, transforming all living creatures into heartless "surveillance cyborgs." One day, the monster's reach extends to a peaceful man living in a faraway land. The man is transformed into a cyborg as well, and like all other cyborgs, he develops a strong desire to seek out more information. He begins running towards the big city, towards the source of the monster's power. Upon arriving in the big city, the man becomes a high-ranking member of the monster's society. He gains access to high levels of information and soon realizes that the monster is feeding cyborgs with information and turning humans into information addicts. The monster is also watching and secretly controlling all living things, creating a heartless surveillance society, a world like Panopticon Prison.

Feeling frustrated and hopeless in this heartless world, the man is about to give up. But then, through the monster's network, he sees a beautiful cyborg. He begins to regain his heart and emotions, slowly turning into a human again. He runs to meet her, simultaneously connecting with her through the monster's network. Unfortunately, when he meets her, he realizes that he is the only one slowly turning into a human. His feelings might have been one-sided, or she might have been just a part of the monster's illusions. Despite his sadness, he decides to satisfy himself by giving all of his feelings, his memories, and his heart to the other cyborg. She consumes his heart, and in doing so, she returns to being human.

-Lamson

Song info:

Panopticom is a track taken from Peter Gabriel's album i/o, released on 1 December 2023. This is the Dark-Side Mix, by Tchad Blake.

Words and music by Peter Gabriel. Produced by Peter Gabriel.

Published by Real World Music Ltd. / Sony Music Publishing.

This song is based on an idea I have been working on to initiate the creation of an infinitely expandable accessible data globe: The Panopticom. We are beginning to connect a like-minded group of people who might be able to bring this to life, to allow the world to see itself better and understand more of what’s really going on.

Some of the ideas came from talking to Witness, Forensic Architecture and reading the Bellingcat book. They are all organisations that try and assemble what has happened from all sorts of clues and all sorts of data and put it all together.

-pg