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In today's world, travelers must provide more and more information in order to cross national borders. But just how much information are you willing to give? (Photo courtesy of the artist)

From the Internet to credit reports to security surveillance, people we don't know have more access to our personal information than ever before. "Supervision," a new production at the Walker Art Center, explores how data are changing both how we're seen, and who we are.

Minneapolis, Minn. — "Supervision" portrays a world not much different from our own -- a world in which travelers are forced to provide more and more personal information in order to gain border clearance.

Supervision director Marianne Weems says the Builders' Association regularly uses its shows to explore the nature of identity. She says Supervision examines how our identities are affected by data.

"The show takes as its premise that we are really dependent on our data at this point," says Weems. "That our data is born when we're born, grows throughout our life, shadows us, and in fact identifies us, and lives on after we die."

The set for Supervision bombards the audiences with images and sound. Screens envelop the actors in virtual worlds, projecting images in front of and behind them. Meanwhile below the stage a row of laptop computers is set up. Some are for stage technicians. Others are for actors who perform into mini cams.

James Gibb is cofounder of dbox, which collaborated with theater troupe The Builders' Association on Supervision. Gibbs says the constantly shifting screens and images are meant to create a sense of what it's like to be in a world of non-stop transactions. He says he worries about what it means to be constantly connected, and how it changes our personalities.

"I guess there's a broader concern for me personally, and that's thinking about the way children grow up in this world now. Even a few years ago it was easy to be alone, and I think being alone is becoming increasingly impossible," says Gibbs.

Supervision follows three stories involving people and their personal data. Director Weems says almost all of us are under some kind of data surveillance, in which our personal information is being manipulated and often mishandled.

Weems points to companies like Choicepoint and others who sold or otherwise compromised people's personal information.

"Millions and millions of people's addresses and private data are now publicly accessible. And I think that's just one of the many ways that the public sphere is enveloping the private sphere. And all those things that once were personal are now basically available online," says Weems.

But as data become more accessible there's a risk that it less accurately reflects who we are. Supervision follows three stories in what Weems calls the "datasphere." One highlights a little covered trend in identity theft; family-on-family theft.

"So this story is drawn from some true material about a father who steals his young son's identity," says Weems. "And I think it's kind of fascinating, because right now in the world there are hundreds of thousands of kids who are walking around in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt. But they're not going to know it until they apply for a job or a college loan application."

Supervision runs through Sunday at the Walker Art Center. Director Marianne Weems admits since beginning work on Supervision she's become more aware of her own data trail.

"I'm really amazed that I haven't had my identity stolen in the course of trying to make this piece so far," says Weems. "But I'm sure that I'm on a bunch of FBI watch lists, because I've done so much research online about all these issues -- data surveillance, travel and border control. So yes, it's definitely become a personal subject!"

And with this story, Weems' data trail just became one bit longer.