Fragments of Identity
Through the repeated process of photocopying the Aadhaar enrolment form and physically interacting with it, I am questioning and creating narratives around how Aadhaar, India’s biometric identity system, is implemented and its impact on people's lives.
Biometrics, built on the colonial technology of fingerprinting that reduces the body to a number—as noted by Professor Ravi Sundaram and explored by the artist collective Raqs Media Collective in their work "Untold Intimacy of Digits, 2011"—have significant implications. Aadhaar's biometric technologies can potentially be used to monitor, regulate, and restrict people's movements and activities, reinforcing state power structures.
The biopolitics of the "voluntary" linking of Aadhaar to systems like banking, taxes, welfare, health, electoral votes, and travel, ostensibly for streamlining taxes and efficient welfare distribution, legitimizes state power exercised over populations through the management of life and bodies. On the other hand, activist Usha Ramachandran has highlighted biometric authentication failures that have prevented individuals, particularly from marginalized communities, from accessing critical services. These failures exacerbate social and economic exclusion, underscoring the system's inherent inequities. India's Aadhaar system provides a rich source of data that can be exploited commercially and politically. This dynamic reflects a form of neo-colonialism, where digital power and control are exerted over a population, often benefiting external entities. This mirrors historical colonial exploitation, where resources were extracted from colonies for the benefit of colonizers.
Biometrics, built on the colonial technology of fingerprinting that reduces the body to a number—as noted by Professor Ravi Sundaram and explored by the artist collective Raqs Media Collective in their work "Untold Intimacy of Digits, 2011"—have significant implications. Aadhaar's biometric technologies can potentially be used to monitor, regulate, and restrict people's movements and activities, reinforcing state power structures.
The biopolitics of the "voluntary" linking of Aadhaar to systems like banking, taxes, welfare, health, electoral votes, and travel, ostensibly for streamlining taxes and efficient welfare distribution, legitimizes state power exercised over populations through the management of life and bodies. On the other hand, activist Usha Ramachandran has highlighted biometric authentication failures that have prevented individuals, particularly from marginalized communities, from accessing critical services. These failures exacerbate social and economic exclusion, underscoring the system's inherent inequities. India's Aadhaar system provides a rich source of data that can be exploited commercially and politically. This dynamic reflects a form of neo-colonialism, where digital power and control are exerted over a population, often benefiting external entities. This mirrors historical colonial exploitation, where resources were extracted from colonies for the benefit of colonizers.
By juxtaposing the Aadhaar enrolment form with imprints of my physical body, the work visually critiques the pervasive reach of state surveillance and the commodification of personal data. The xerox art technique, with its roots in DIY counterculture—exemplified by Hudinilson Jr. and Barbara T. Smith—serves as a powerful medium to deconstruct the layers of control and dominance established through colonial and post-colonial mechanisms. Additionally, the generational loss inherent in repeated xeroxing symbolizes the erosion of personal autonomy and the dilution of individual identity under relentless data replication and bureaucratic standardization. Through this fusion of personal and bureaucratic imagery, the project invites viewers to question the intimate entanglement of individual identities within the vast apparatus of data governance and to reflect on the ongoing implications of Aadhaar as a tool of modern biopolitical regulation and data colonialism.