Existing comment:
Symbology
One of the ironies of classified military and intelligence programs is that they often have insignia and logos attached to them.
--- Trevor Paglen, 2010
Some aspects of secrecy are more readily shown in language or objects than by photographs. For these, Paglen sometimes uses declassified documents in his artworks. Seventeen Letters From the Deep State is a collection of messages from the U.S. Department of State authorizing acts of "extraordinary rendition." All are signed "Terry Hogan." The name, Paglen explains, is a "sterile identity," a fictional credential used for covert operations. For Code Names: Classified Military and Intelligence Programs, Paglen searched online databases and filed Freedom of Information Act requests to compile nicknames that intelligence agencies use to publicly designate otherwise classified operations. These works use secrecy's opaque language and bureaucratic objects. They carry meaning for insiders, though not for the general public. Together with his photographs, for Paglen, they symbolize the limits of what may be lawfully shown of the spaces of secrecy while also suggesting that the investigation does not end there. |