MFA Advising 2018: Hazem Asif

The Mall: A World-Building Speculation on the Future of Privacy

by Hazem Asif

Main Advisor: Basma Hamdy

Associate Advisors: Diane Derr & Levi Hammett

Reader: Michael A Wirtz

This thesis is a speculative science fiction exploration of a future dystopian world where privacy becomes a dominant currency that is distributed according to social class and ranking mechanisms. It utilizes speculative world-building to study the unanticipated implications of technology on personal privacy, surveillance and social inequality in contemporary society. The project introduces The Mall, as a highly efficient and hyper-connected world, but also exposes its downfall as a society with heightened cultural and socio-political differences. Inspired by past civilizations, the development of the modern nation-state as well as contemporary society the design adapts, appropriates and reformulates many existing cultures into new hybrid possibilities. This thesis project is presented as an illustrated coded tapestry that allows the viewer to explore and interact with various components of the narrative to speculate and critique an alternative future-world void of privacy.