Better Safe than Sorry – Encyclopaedia of Security Artefacts

Every area of our social life, personal action and working routine involves the concept of safety and security. Bollards, walls, plastic sheeting, gloves, hel­mets, weapons and missile defense systems, video cameras, silicone caps for fingers and life jackets. The list of security artefacts has no end, and new artefacts are constantly being added with emerging new risks, new fears, new technologies, and new production ways. Security objects reveal the rational and irrational fears that are driving society at the time of their creation. The individual fear and the desired feeling of absolute security are linked to the ongoing social and political situation. This encyclopaedia can be seen as an archive, cross-section, and collection of what is on society’s mind in 2020 and 2021. It is a visual inventory of poli­tical decisions and social developments. A year from now one will turn the pages of this book and wonder which fears and risks were already present and which were not even considered, which technical enhancements have been made and which political issues have remained or are still not prioritized.