
Stealing
Standing in an aisle, I crouch down so that the shelves and people around me block the security cameras monitoring us. The 'see something, say something' messaging pushed by tough on crime campaigns is rendered ineffective in today’s attention economy. Looking at the iPad kid sitting in the shopping cart next to me and his dad comparing prices on Amazon, I feel shielded by their devices.
As I’m crouched down I become undetectable. A tear in the body of the store opens up, creating an opportunity for me to move the products on the shelf into the opening of my bag. This opening, like all openings, is short-lived and emerges when a system’s limits have been exceeded. A power failure, an obscured camera, or a distracted worker create openings that are necessary for stealing.
As my arm moves the products into my bag, it opens up the possibility of moving towards the exit without detection. Stealing is a series of openings and closings that make possible undetectable movement.
Exiting the store, the subject becomes a thief. This act of self-creation positions the thief in direct opposition to the sovereign, who is inherently incapable of committing a crime. Taken to their limits, both the thief and sovereign are outside the law, and both identities are established by the act of stealing.
As systems are becoming elastic, limits are becoming unreachable. As a result, openings necessary for the creation of a sovereign life are becoming scarce.