1) From Wikipedia:
The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the incarcerated being able to tell whether they are being watched, thereby conveying what one architect has called the "sentiment of an invisible omniscience."[1]
Bentham himself described the Panopticon as "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example."[2]
But wait, there's more.
The word panopticon can also refer to any room or place for the exhibition of novelties or oddities, or simply a room where everything is clearly visible.
In addition, "Panopticons" refers to a set of four modern scupltures located in Lancashire. Check out the Singing, Ringing Tree.
Finally, these scary camera birds are known as panoptICONS.
panoptICONS Utrecht 2010 from Helden on Vimeo.
You can find out more about these dark observers, here. Maybe they're in a city near you - let us know if you observe them, observing you. ^_^; As an art project, they invert and play with the word's meaning. We can refer to these creatures as panopticons, but they are a reminder that we are the ones in the prison. Further irony, in that birds are normally thought of as the free-est of the free.
According to Merriam Webster online, panopticon is not a word available to the hoi-palloi. You must pay for the privilege of access to vocabulary, by adding filthy lucre to the coffers of the stalwart guardians of culture at Merriam Webster. Luckily, we're here for you, simpleton dregs of the internet, providing you with free words to use at your discretion. No thanks necessary, netizen. Now be on your way.
We're watching you.
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