Seeing The Secret State: Six Landscapes

Presented at 30C3 (2013), Dec. 28, 2013, 11 p.m. (60 minutes)

Although people around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the United States' global geography of surveillance, covert action, and other secret programs, much of this landscape is invisible in our everyday lives. The drone war, for example, seems to happen “somewhere else” while surveillance programs take place among the (largely) invisible infrastructures and digital protocols of the internet and other communications networks. Moreover, the state agencies responsible for secret programs strive to make them as invisible as possible. In this talk, artist Trevor Paglen discusses his work attempting to “see” the various aspects of the secret state. In examples ranging from tracking spy satellites to foraging through the bureaucratic refuse of CIA front companies, Paglen will discuss methods used to identify and exploit structural contradictions in classified programs which render them visible, and comment on the aesthetics and politics of attempting to “see” secrecy.

Presenters:

• Trevor Paglen
  Trevor Paglen is an American artist, geographer, and author.

Links:

• https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2013/Fahrplan/events/5604.html

Similar Presentations:

• DEF CON 11 (2003) / Hacking the Invisible Network
• 32C3 (2015) / The Price Of Dissent: The surveillance state & modern day COINTELPRO tactics
• DEF CON 22 (2014) / Bug Bounty Programs Evolution