Inverse Security is an immersive installation that takes the shape of a tri-circular labyrinth comprising nearly 10,000 pages of declassified government records which were obtained via the Freedom of Information Act federal lawsuit, Boundaoui v. FBI. The work employs a data visualization technique known as datagram, initiated 24 years ago by artist Yucef Merhi when he started intercepting the emails of the former President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. Formally speaking, a datagram is a procedural pattern that uses a geometric algorithm to scatter and display information on 2D surfaces. When the data –printed on adhesive laser paper– is placed on the wall, an immersive data landscape emerges.

The participation of the community that was surveilled and harassed by the FBI was key in the installation process. The conversations, testimonies, insights, and emotional processing of the participants, including mothers, artists, journalists, spiritual practitioners, builders, professionals, and members of the Arab and Muslim community of Bridgeview, Illinois; were essential to activate the intention of the work: to provide a space-time for healing and affirmation.

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