Trevor Paglen Causes a Little Drama...

Why It Matters

Paglen’s aerial stunt forces a visual confrontation with the NSA’s secrecy, urging citizens to demand transparency and accountability in surveillance operations.

Key Takeaways

• Paglen threatened NSA with helicopter photography, claiming legality.
• He critiques “god‑eye” surveillance as implying mastery over citizens.
• Aerial view frames NSA headquarters like an ordinary public building.
• He argues public should wield symbolic power over civic institutions.
• The stunt creates drama, highlighting surveillance’s hidden pervasiveness.

Summary

Trevor Paglen announced a plan to fly a helicopter over the NSA headquarters and capture aerial photographs, asserting the action is perfectly legal. He contacted the agency, warned them not to intervene, and used the stunt to provoke discussion about surveillance.

Paglen argues that the so‑called bird’s‑eye or god‑eye perspective suggests a false sense of mastery over citizens, masking the agency’s pervasive reach into everyday life. By framing the NSA building as a mundane, mall‑like structure, he invites viewers to see it as a civic institution subject to public scrutiny.

He emphasizes, “I generally don’t like these so‑called bird’s‑eye perspectives…we can look at a building like this and imagine that these are civic institutions and that you as a member of the public should be able to exert the same kind of power.” The dramatic framing underscores the tension between secrecy and transparency.

The episode spotlights the power imbalance between intelligence agencies and the public, suggesting that symbolic acts of visual exposure can challenge entrenched surveillance practices and spark policy debate.

Original Description

...By photographing the NSA.

"You should be able to exert the same kind of power over this institution that we can symbolically [have] by looking at a shot from this perspective," the artist says.

Watch all of Art21's films with Trevor Paglen on YouTube.