[Infowarrior] - Satellite Imagery and the Spectacle of Secret Spaces

[Richard Forno]

Satellite Imagery and the Spectacle of Secret Spaces

Chris Perkins and Martin Dodge
Geography, School of Environment and Development
University of Manchester

Abstract

This paper documents and assesses emerging efforts to resist and  
subvert deep-seated and long-held governmental secrecy over  
geographical spaces of military/security activities and other sites  
deemed sensitive by the state. It explores tensions in new web-served  
mapping and high-resolution imagery of these sites, which view them  
though ‘pin holes’ of publicly available data. These ‘counter- 
mappings’ focus attention on the significance of sites that are either  
buried unnoticed in seamless global image coverage, or else censored  
on official mapping. Some reveal a strongly anti-hegemonic and  
oppositional discourse, others a more playful set of cultural  
practices. We situate these newly witnessed secret sites in  
contemporary visual culture, exploring the spectacular and Debordian  
possibilities of resistance that they offer, and evaluate the  
significance and ironies of these diverse imaging practices.

  http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/m.dodge/spectacle_of_secret_spaces.pdf