Arte panóptico: vigilancia, control algorítmico y prácticas críticas en el arte contemporáneo

Contemporary societies are structured through increasingly complex systems of control and surveillance that permeate urban space, bodies, and subjectivities. This article examines the transformation of surveillance from the architectural model of the panopticon to contemporary forms of digital and algorithmic control. Drawing on Jeremy Bentham and Michel Foucault’s interpretation of panopticism as a political technology characteristic of disciplinary societies, it addresses the transition described by Gilles Deleuze toward societies of control, defined by a continuous modulation of behavior through information flows. Within this context, the article explores the central role of data in surveillance capitalism and in processes of automated social classification. Against the naturalization of these dispositifs in urban and digital environments, including smart cities, the article proposes contemporary art as a space for critical analysis and symbolic resistance. Through the work of artists and collectives such as Trevor Paglen, Hito Steyerl, Jill Magid, Hasan Elahi, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, James Bridle, Tega Brain, Harun Farocki, Bureau d’Études, Surveillance Camera Players, and Addie Wagenknecht, the article demonstrates how art not only represents surveillance but renders it experiential, activating the viewer as a surveilled subject and fostering critical awareness of emerging forms of technological control.