Tracking Transience – The Orwell Project is a self-surveillance project. As a result of an erroneous tip called into law enforcement authorities, Hasan Elahi was subjected to an intensive FBI Investigation post 9-11. After undergoing months of regular interrogations and finally nine consecutive lie-detector tests, he was cleared of any suspicions. However, this experience led Elahi to conceive a self-tracking device that constantly transmits and maps his exact location alongside his financial data, communication records and transportation logs. Other aspects of Tracking Transience include a database of thousands of images of airports Elahi travels through and sometimes sleeps in, food he consumes in transit, and public toilets he uses while travelling. Tracking Transience – The Orwell Project builds on a series of installations, performances, and websites that use Elahi’s self-surveillance to critique contemporary investigative techniques. A second innovation in this work is its embrace of surveillance for its subject’s own protection; Elahi has protected himself from unwanted scrutiny by making his entire life and whereabouts publicly accessible.