<nettime> U.S. intelligence officials became graffiti on public walls -

Paolo Cirio <press@paolocirio.net> · Wed, 6 May 2015 13:54:45 -0400

 OVEREXPOSED - HD Stencils
 Press Release. NYC, London, Berlin. May 6th 2015.
 Stolen photos of U.S. intelligence officials became graffiti on public
 walls.
 Artist Paolo Cirio disseminates unauthorized pictures of high-ranking
 U.S. intelligence officials throughout major cities. Cirio found
 snapshots of NSA, CIA, and FBI officers through social media hacks. He
 then spray-paints high-resolution reproductions of their
 misappropriated photos onto public walls, using his HD Stencils
 graffiti technique.
 Everything about the project here:
 [1]http://paolocirio.net/work/hd-stencils/overexposed/
 Cirio is posting spray painted posters with interventions in New York
 City, London, Berlin and Paris. See the pictures of the interventions
 here:
 [2]https://www.flickr.com/photos/overexposed-public/
 Full Press Kit here: [3]https://goo.gl/G699tv
 Critical texts by Nato Thompson and Bruce Sterling. Project produced
 and presented by NOME on May 22nd in Berlin.
 This artwork examines the Edward Snowden revelations and exposes some
 of the officials responsible for programs of mass surveillance or for
 misleading the public about them. The targeted intelligence officials
 in the Overexposed series are Keith Alexander (NSA), John Brennan
 (CIA), Michael Hayden (NSA), Michael Rogers (NSA), James Comey (FBI),
 James Clapper (NSA), David Petraus (CIA), Caitlin Hayden (NSC), and
 Avril Haines (CIA). Look at the stories and snapshots that Cirio
 assembled about the last decadeâs most controversial figures in the
 U.S. intelligence community:
 [4]http://paolocirio.net/work/hd-stencils/overexposed/officials.php
 The unseemly photos exposed by Cirio were all taken in informal and
 private contexts, such as selfies, family celebrations, and intimate
 situations, and they were all taken by individuals external to the
 intelligence agencies.
 Cirioâs political satire reveals the extent to which political
 authoritiesâ public images can always be captured on camera by the same
 system they seek to control. Overexposed derides the watchers through
 ridiculous pictures that they lost control of, turning the tables on
 them and their advocacy of mass surveillance and lax privacy practices.
 Look at the theoretical essay concerning the conceptual artistic
 operation:
 [5]http://paolocirio.net/press/texts/text_overexposed.php
 Overexposed also represents an historic moment of the unaccountability
 of war crimes during decades of unjustified military occupations marked
 by brutal extradition and torture programs, the employing of secretive
 drone attacks, the militarization of the Internet, and the degradation
 of civil liberties worldwide.
 Overexposed will be on display starting May 22nd in Berlin at NOME.
 Paolo Cirioâs solo show will include the nine subjects of the
 Overexposed series, painted on canvas and photo paper as fine art
 crafts, on sale to support the artistâs activity.
 [6]http://nomeproject.com
 Other news about Paolo Cirioâs work
 Another Paolo Cirioâs solo shows, After Transparency, took place in
 Toulouse, France in April. The retrospective included four of the
 artistâs major artworks that raised questions about the notions of
 privacy and secrecy, as well as accountability and anonymity in the
 complexity of global democracy and economy. More about the show After
 Transparency:
 [7]http://paolocirio.net/press/texts/after-transparency.php
 About Daily Paywall
 [8]http://paolocirio.net/work/daily-paywall/
 This recent controversial art intervention was just released in
 December. The art performance, with 60,000 articles stolen from major
 financial newspapers, was a great success, with a large audience
 participating in the conceptual economic model that pays people to get
 informed. On Christmas Day 2014, the DailyPaywall.com's ISP took down
 domain name, database, and code of the online art project after
 receiving a complaint from Pearson PLC, the owner of Financial Times &
 The Economist. The same day, The Wall Street Journal terminated the
 subscription and banned the artist for violating their Terms of Service
 agreement. The aggressive legal letter from the British multinational,
 Pearson PLC, mentioned five international copyright laws that the
 artist transgressed for making his artwork. Read Pearsonâs letter:
 [9]http://paolocirio.net/work/daily-paywall/DailyPaywall.com-PearsonPLC
 -vs-Cirio.pdf
 This conceptual short circuit on new economies over the control of
 information, knowledge, and education concluded the art performance, as
 Pearson PLC is the largest educational and publishing company in the
 world, monopolizing online degrees and educational testing in U.S.
 colleges and in several other countries. Watch the video presentation
 at FutureEverything festival: [10]https://vimeo.com/122408886.
 About Loophole for All
 [11]http://paolocirio.net/work/loophole-for-all/
 The project is still a concern for the Cayman Islands and the global
 firms navigating the offshore centers to avoid taxes and legal
 accountability, often in total secrecy. The project also kept receiving
 a number of legal threats, while last year it received the first prize
 of Ars Electronica, the Golden Nica, in Linz in Austria. Pictures of
 the installation:
 [12]http://paolocirio.net/work/loophole-for-all/loophole-for-all-linz.p
 hp
 Loophole for All will be displayed in Basel, Switzerland, at HeK from
 end of May and it is currently shown at EMAF festival in Osnabruck and
 just presented at Royal Anthropology Institute in London.
 About Global Direct
 [13]http://paolocirio.net/work/global-direct/
 This recent artwork also received several reviews and is featured with
 a recent interview in the magazine, AfterImage:
 [14]http://paolocirio.net/press/interviews/interview_gd-dp_afterimage.p
 hp
 The installation of Global Direct will be shown in Vancouver at ISEA
 this August.
 About Persecuting US
 [15]http://paolocirio.net/work/persecuting-us/
 The project with 1 million American Twitter profiles, sorted by
 political affiliation. This artwork becomes relevant again withÂ the
 upcoming presidential election in the U.S. and the revelation of
 domestic spying by the NSA. It was recently shown at Utah MoCA and it
 will be at Modelab in New Zealand in June.
 About Street Ghosts
 [16]http://paolocirio.net/work/street-ghosts/
 The new Google Time Machine compromised some of the archive with over
 one hundred interventions worldwide with this project, yet the new
 feature also opens up new possibilities as now the Street Ghosts
 interventions themselves are being captured by Google camera. These
 cases will be shown at the installations at Apexart in NYC and CENART
 in Mexico City.
 About Face to Facebook
 [17]http://paolocirio.net/work/face-to-facebook/
 After four years itâs still in display in several exhibitions, as
 currently at Espacio FundaciÃ³n TelefÃ³nica, Madrid and at Apexart in
 NYC in June.
 Thanks for the attention.
 [18]http://PaoloCirio.net
References
 1. http://paolocirio.net/work/hd-stencils/overexposed/
 2. https://www.flickr.com/photos/overexposed-public/
 3. https://goo.gl/G699tv
 4. http://paolocirio.net/work/hd-stencils/overexposed/officials.php
 5. http://paolocirio.net/press/texts/text_overexposed.php
 6. http://nomeproject.com/
 7. http://paolocirio.net/press/texts/after-transparency.php
 8. http://paolocirio.net/work/daily-paywall/
 9. http://paolocirio.net/work/daily-paywall/DailyPaywall.com-PearsonPLC-vs-Cirio.pdf
 10. https://vimeo.com/122408886
 11. http://paolocirio.net/work/loophole-for-all/
 12. http://paolocirio.net/work/loophole-for-all/loophole-for-all-linz.php
 13. http://paolocirio.net/work/global-direct/
 14. http://paolocirio.net/press/interviews/interview_gd-dp_afterimage.php
 15. http://paolocirio.net/work/persecuting-us/
 16. http://paolocirio.net/work/street-ghosts/
 17. http://paolocirio.net/work/face-to-facebook/
 18. http://PaoloCirio.net/