Invisible Observer, Captured Subject: Hito Steyerl and the Politics of Digital Surveillance

Abstract

This thesis critically examines digital surveillance in the artwork of Hito Steyerl. Using theoretical lenses from media theory, philosophy, critical theory, digital culture studies, and contemporary art, it explores how Steyerl critiques digital surveillance in the artworks How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational MOV.File (2013) and SocialSim (2020). Through detailed analyses, the thesis examines the relationship between digital visibility, systemic power, and resistance in the digital age.