Covert Operations: Investigating the Known Unknowns

3 minute read

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” – Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, in response to a question about the lack of evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, February 12, 2002.


It started with a spy meeting.

In November, 2011, Claire Carter, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), was invited to present some “complex artwork [with] often ambiguous conclusions” to the Arizona chapter of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers at an educational event in Scottsdale. A former art history major who studied international politics, she jumped at the opportunity to meet such elusive intelligence figures. Carter curated a presentation of images from artists such as Trevor Paglen and David Taylor, who use deep investigative research methods to inform their work — Paglen, for example, often finds the names of classified military programs by searching for government job listings. Both men create work that discusses the covert culture surrounding intelligence in America, often shedding light on information that would otherwise be unknown to the public.

Following Carter’s presentation was utter silence, and a single generic question during the Q&A. Carter’s boss Timothy Rodgers, Director of SMoCA, felt that she might have “hit a nerve” with the crowd, igniting the spark of inspiration for SMoCA’s current exhibition. One surprised former CIA agent and political science professor asked Rodgers how these artists could have possibly acquired such classified information.

This is the question on everybody’s mind today. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the American psyche has been perplexed and paranoid about information; leaked information, freedom of information, information collection, and false information.

These uncertainties that infiltrate American politics and society, as well as the murky, anonymous layers of the intelligence community, inspired Carter to curate Covert Operations. The exhibition features diverse work from artists such as Kerry Tribe, Harun Farocki, David Gurman, and Taryn Simon, among many others. The art ranges from photo and video to constructed environments that explore themes of surveillance, privacy, transparence, evidence, intelligence and human rights.

Carter sees these works of art accomplishing the same goal as journalism, if not going further. “They’re raising questions. This is what journalists should do. All of the artists are looking for demonstrable information in Covert Operations. It’s impossible to say what’s true and what’s not because how can you? What we’ve tried to do is provide the greatest amount of transparency in the artists’ practice and in the amount of research they’ve done to make these works.”

She continues: “I didn’t want to choose one topic and beat people over the head with it,” Carter states. “When people walk into the show, there will be some things that they find offensive, and some things that they find compelling. What I really want is a conversation, and that’s what the artists want.”

The show’s catalog will be released in a nondescript manila envelope, evoking the confidential nature of the secrets within. “We’ll see if anyone is brave enough to open it!” says Carter.


Covert Operations will be on view at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art from Sept. 28—Jan. 11.

Marisa Schwartz is an Associate Photo Editor for TIME.com.


Camera Room, New Mexico, 2007From the series "Working the Line"David Taylor—James Kelly Contemporary/SMoCA
David Taylor Seismic Sensor
Seismic Sensor, Texas, 2007From the series "Working the Line"David Taylor—James Kelly Contemporary/SMoCA
David Taylor Along the Tijuana River
Along the Tijuana River, San Ysidro, California, 2009From the series "Working the Line"David Taylor—James Kelly Contemporary/SMoCA
Trevor Paglen Reaper Drone
Untitled (Reaper Drone), 2010Trevor Paglen—Altman Siegel, Metro Pictures, Galerie Thomas Zander/SMoCA
Lacrosse/Onyx II Passing Through Draco (Radar Imaging Reconnaissance Satellite, USA 69), 2007From the series "The Other Night Sky"Trevor Paglen—Altman Siegel, Metro Pictures, Galerie Thomas Zander/SMoCA
Five Classified Squadrons, 2007Trevor Paglen—Altman Siegel, Metro Pictures, Galerie Thomas Zander/SMoCA
Six CIA Agents Wanted in Connection with the Abduction of Abu Omar From Milan, Italy, 2007Trevor Paglen—Altman Siegel, Metro Pictures, Galerie Thomas Zander/SMoCA
Untitled (Potential Terrorist) stills, 2002Kerry Tribe—1301PE/SMoCA
Serious Games I: Watson Is Down (stills), 2010Harun Farocki—Greene Naftali/SMoCA
Serious Games II: Three Dead (still), 2010Harun Farocki—Greene Naftali/SMoCA
Serious Games III: Immersion (stills), 2009Harun Farocki—Greene Naftali/SMoCA
Reflector Project: Tigris-Potomac IKONOS View (detail), 2007David Gurman—SMoCA
Reflector Project: Tigris-Potomac IKONOS View (detail), 2007David Gurman—SMoCA
Reflector Project: Tigris-Potomac IKONOS View, 2007Digital images of the Tigris River and Potomac River captured in February 2003 by the IKONOS satelliteDavid Gurman—SMoCA

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