We're all creating an archive of our own lives, whether we're aware of it or not. Hasan M. Elahi More Quotes by Hasan M. Elahi More Quotes From Hasan M. Elahi I've pretty much accepted the fact that you're going to meet ignorant people, and that's okay. You can't control that. You can't change that. Hasan M. Elahi control you change people It's really weird watching the government watch me. Hasan M. Elahi weird watching me government You hear these horrible stories about the FBI just doing all these nasty things to people. And you know what? In my case, I didn't experience any of that, probably because the way I treated them. I was like, 'Okay, what do you want to know?' So I kept going back to their offices on a regular basis. Hasan M. Elahi you experience people way If 300 million people were to offer up the details of their private lives, you would need to hire another 300 million people just to keep up. Hasan M. Elahi need you details people It's incredibly disturbing when a country, particularly your own country, uses discrimination as a basis for an investigation. Hasan M. Elahi your own discrimination country Big Brother doesn't like all these Little Brothers looking at it. Hasan M. Elahi big-brother looking like brother How do you manage your online identity? It's something I talk about with my students all the time. Hasan M. Elahi your you identity time The concept of surveillance is ingrained in our beings. God was the original surveillance camera. Hasan M. Elahi camera our surveillance god We don't know what the next generation of art is going to look like. We're kind of making it up as we go along. Not unlike the tech industry. Hasan M. Elahi generation look know art To this day, I get very nervous coming back into my own country. Hasan M. Elahi day back my-own country I'm convinced that if we don't define ourselves, other people will do it for us, and inaccurately. Hasan M. Elahi define us will people Despite the barrage of information about me that is publicly available, I live a surprisingly private and anonymous life. Hasan M. Elahi live me information life You can accuse me of being a terror suspect, but I can prove to you that I'm not. Hasan M. Elahi me you prove i-can I'm an artist. And usually when I tell people I'm an artist, they just look at me and say, 'Do you paint?' or 'What kind of medium do you work in?' Hasan M. Elahi me you work people Information agencies operate in an industry that values data. Restricted access to information is what makes it valuable. Hasan M. Elahi values industry data information