PER SPECULUM IN ÆNIGMATE

source: maximusclarke

PER SPECULUM IN ÆNIGMATE is a meditation on the tension between concealment and exposure in the surveillance society. It is also a functioning encrypted communications system.

The name of the project comes from the Latin translation of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (“For now we see through a glass darkly…”). Today, our desire to “know even as we are also known” by those in our social networks conflicts with our essential need for a zone of privacy where the self can be (re)constituted. The virtual spaces we inhabit are controlled by corporate and government entities focused on commerce, security, and power. They desire to know us in full — while being known by us, at most, only in part.

During the fall of 2013, project participants sent PGP-encrypted messages to the artist. He converted the messages — which he could not read — into QR codes, and then superimposed them onto anaglyph stereo images. The images depict an anonymous model, concealed by pixelation, but still partly discernible when viewed via red/cyan 3D glasses. As images were posted to the project’s Tumblr site, recipients scanned and decrypted the messages hidden therein.
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source: maximusclarke

Maximus Clarke was born in Texas, and grew up in New Orleans and Miami. He studied English at the University of Florida, and received an MFA in Film from Florida State University. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

His stereographic and video works have been featured in exhibitions at the Warhol Museum, the Clocktower Gallery, the Center for Holographic Arts, Radiator Gallery, Devotion Gallery, and elsewhere. He regularly releases new anaglyph stereographic images at Parallax City.

He also creates electronic music, videos, and performances under the name Maxx Klaxon. His music has been featured on 2 albums and numerous compilations, and he has performed across the US and internationally, at venues including The Knitting Factory, Webster Hall, Galapagos, Monkey Town, SXSW, and the RE/Mixed Media Festival.

Clarke is one of the founders and curators of the SPLICE electronic music and multimedia performance series in New York City. He is a member of Rhizome, and the New York Stereoscopic Society.