Task one - Panopticism.

Thinking about modern day examples of panopticism I have chosen one example to discuss, I will also include quotes from 'Panopticism' by Michael Foucault that link to my ideas. A modern swimming pool is in my opinion panoptic because the lifeguard sits in their chair in the middle of the pool area like the tower of the Panopticon because "the registration of the pathological must be constantly centralised". This chair is high enough so that the lifeguard can over look the whole of the pool area and can be seen by the public swimmers. There are rules put in place that only tend to be followed due to the panoptic layout of the swimming pool because someone is constantly watching to make sure the public are abiding thus links the quote "Visibility is a trap". Panopticism in this case is used as a safety feature because the public are aware that they are being watched therefor they behave in a certain sensible manner. This reduces accidents because the public become docile bodies when attending the swimming pool and automatically behave themselves. "So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in it's effects, even if it is discontinuous in it's action" - There does become a point in which the lifeguard doesn't necessarily have to be there because the public self regulate so not to endanger themselves. Unlike the Panopticon however, the public can see each other when in the swimming pool so may be influenced by what others are doing in a negative way. "The first is that of a pure community, the second that of a disciplined society" this could link to the fact that some people know how to behave in modern day society and others are taught through systems such as the panoptic layout. Overall "Bentham's Panopticon is the architectural figure of this composition" because the way in which the swimming pool is laid out could have come from the ideas of the Panopticon.

Foucault, M. (1977) Discipline and Punish, London, Penguin.