Airport art? Or asking for it?

Airport 'X-ray art' courts TSA troubleBy Anonymous on October 1, 2008, 7:23 pm

Techno-artist Evan Roth has a message for the Transportation Safety Administration -- several messages, actually -- about what he considers excessive airport security "theater" ... and he has chosen an intentionally provocative method of delivery: the TSA's own X-ray screening machines.

Here's Roth's idea, which he calls "TSA Communication" and tells me has already made it through three trial airport runs: Take a metal plate, stencil and cut out a message -- words or an image -- place the plate at the bottom of your carry-on bag, and watch what happens as the TSA employee operating the airport X-ray machine notices ... or doesn't notice. The cut-out images, which could be anything, currently range from the benign: an American flag; to the smart-alecky: "Nothing to see here;" to what some might find offensive and a TSA agent somewhere is bound to cause a fuss over: a silhouette of a box cutter, which Roth calls "the exact opposite of a box cutter."

(You can see more examples here.)

(Update: A TSA blogger responds.)

Best known for co-founding The Graffiti Research Lab -- "Dedicated to outfitting graffiti artists with open source technologies for urban communication" -- Roth and I have been swapping e-mail about his TSA project. I've also consulted an expert on airport security screening to get that point of view. Roth first, then the expert:

Are you serious about doing this?

So far I have traveled with the plates three times (I'm actually answering these questions in the Hong Kong airport having just passed security 20 minutes ago) and I plan to continue doing so.
I fly all the time, and a big part of doing this project is simply so I have something to look forward to when I go to the airport. I hate flying, I hate airports, I hate security, I hate wasting time, and most of all I hate being forced to play a role in the theater of security.
Of course having to take off my shoes and throw out my 4oz Jell-O isn't the end of the world, but by passively going along with it I feel as if I am agreeing to take part in the ruse. Taking off my belt is not going to make flying any safer. What would make flying safer is if America would stop being such an international a*****e. But since neither of these situations seems very likely to end any time soon, I would rather go through the dance of airport security as an active participant rather than a passive one.

Are you at all concerned about the obvious risks associated with joking with airport security?

Legally I don't think I'm breaking any laws by carrying the plates in my carry-on bag. I've read the TSA's list of prohibited items, and while a 4oz container of yogurt might pose some problems, "TSA Communication Plates" aren't currently on the list. I would, however, consider it my crowning achievement as an artist if they added "TSA Communication Plates" to their list of prohibited items (I'm not holding my breath).
And while there is a certain amount of humor in the project, I wouldn't be doing this if it was only intended simply as a joke.

Are you concerned about what others might do if your idea catches on?

I am excited by what others might do if this catches on. I think if we all got a little more accustomed to creatively talking back instead of following instructions, the U.S. would be in much better place.
People have been sending me lots of good ideas (for plates), for example the 4th Amendment, "(TSA Administrator) Kip Hawley is an idiot," and, "Put me in the slow lane where you hand search everything I'm carrying."

What has happened on your trial runs?

At the Amsterdam airport I went through security with the box cutter plate (which I'm calling "The Exact Opposite Of A Box Cutter"). They asked me what was in my bag and when I reached to open it up they got a little jumpy and told me not to touch it. They swiveled the monitor around to show me the item in question and I was happy to see that the resulting image showed up almost exactly like the concept images I had made up. After I told them it was an art project they relaxed and allowed me to take it out of the bag, at which point they let me go (you have to love the Netherlands).
Then today I took the American flag plate from Hong Kong to Bangkok, and they didn't notice :(.

We already know what happens if you try to go through TSA screening -- say at Boston's Logan Airport -- wearing a pin that looks like a bomb. As Roth's project has started to get a bit of attention on the Internet, it's been suggested by many that he is simply begging for trouble.

Coincidentally, I happen to have a reliable source -- OK, he's my brother -- who works for a company that provides screening equipment to airports, military installations and the most security-sensitive of government facilities. (He has government security clearance and I could tell you the famous place where he is today, but then he'd have to kill us both.)

I sent him the link about Roth's X-ray art and asked whether he thought this would a) work as the artist intends, and b) go over very well at your typical airport security station. His reply:

It is beyond me why anyone would do anything that would increase their likelihood of being selected for more intensive screening. It's a funny concept, but a very bad idea in practice.
Yes, it's very doable -- we do similar things for testing, like cut a hand-grenade silhouette out of a thin sheet of lead. If anything obscures the imagery of the bag, the screener will certainly be more likely to perform additional screening.

And you don't have to have government security clearance to know what "additional screening" can mean. Roth says he doesn't like flying now? I'm thinking he's going to be liking it a lot less before long.

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x-ray fluorescenceBy Anonymous on February 24, 2009, 12:54 amI think this could be very effective. but its not about sending a message to the TSA screeners its a round about and possibly effective way of sending a message to THE PEOPLE about this issue in a way thats not immediately off putting..... x-ray fluorescence

Not a new ideaBy Anonymous on November 10, 2008, 6:05 pmSorry, but this "hack" is about three decades old. My father worked his entire career for the Department of Defense. As a top-level engineer/inventor/manager, he traveled extensively to Washington D.C. When the airport x-ray machines were introduced back in the 1970s, he cut up some scrap lead foil from his lab, peeled back the lining on his briefcase, then carefully applied the foil and replaced the lining. From then on, when he went through security, the word "Hi" would show up in foot-tall letters on the machine. After he died a couple years ago I came across his briefcase. So I peeled back the lining and, sure enough, it still had that lead-foil stencil.

Metal? Why Worry?By Anonymous on October 30, 2008, 8:30 amNo need to XRay folks – From CIA letter openers, to plastic knives that ANYone can get at Wal-Mart, BOTH can cut and kill. Both will pass unnoticed thru an XRay screening. Every pilot knows this. Americans need to be more concerned about our constitutional rights, and less about making ignorant sheep feel more at ease with what is in our pockets and bags. Indeed, much like when Aladdin’s monkey raised his captured cutlass over his head in Disney’s cartoon, the response of the every American SHOULD be much the same: "Idiots, we ALL have got swords!" Everyone should be disturbed by this mass disarming of American citizens. The Constitution says that we have a right to defend ourselves. By banning cutting instruments, not only is the government ignoring basic American rights, but they are also insuring that only outlaws will be carrying – be they hiding plastic or ceramic - weapons. Disarming U.S citizens almost guarantees our slaughter.

AwesomeBy Anonymous on October 13, 2008, 10:07 pmGreat work. I used to do this all the time up until the spooks gave me a job. Good to see someone is keeping the standard up :-D

I think...By Anonymous on October 9, 2008, 4:17 pmHe should make a plate with the text of the Fourth Amendment on it. Though I'm absolutely certain that would just make whoever had it be named an "enemy combatant".

Make a plate thatBy Anonymous on October 8, 2008, 1:03 pmMake a plate that says: "Durka Durka Mohammed Jihad" or "You in the robes... hand over the WMDs"

I still agree with RickBy Anonymous on October 6, 2008, 3:04 pmI still agree with Rick, (TSA passenger screener from 1st comment). While this may be fun and creative. It is also like preaching to the choir. Believe me, the TSA screeners agree with you that the screening process sucks. However that is their job and those are the rules. Making life hard on the passenger screeners will do absolutely nothing except perhaps piss off the screener. The testier ones might even run you through the whole smash for your joke. All you do in the end for making your little attention play, is to slow the process up for everyone else. (Still Rick is looking for one of the signs. He said the droid idea is his personal fav.) Save your complaints for those that can change the system.

ClearanceBy Anonymous on October 6, 2008, 9:47 amThe reason why you're still trying to figure out what Secret Service Clearance is... is that it doesn't exist. Secret Service personnel just need Top Secret clearance - not some made-up 'double secret probation' B.S. I agree, people with a clearance (and especially a TS) don't broadcast it.

not quite Banksy but closeBy Anonymous on October 5, 2008, 1:20 pmI love it. People who can't even laugh at this have no sense of irony or humor.

You could try one thatBy Anonymous on October 5, 2008, 4:38 pmYou could try one that reads "I think I like you, but your boss is an a*****e". Or "Your boss is paranoid and doesn't half pay you what you deserve" I do agree that this project is funny and has its merits, and I also agree that you shouldn't give the security goons the feeling that it's directed at them personally - per se... If not from the feeling that most are just doing their jobs, then out of self preservation and the knowledge that after the body search you still have to SIT on that plane for a couple of hours. Cheers

heyBy Anonymous on October 4, 2008, 7:34 pmI think you are a dumbass who needs attention and makes up your "concept" based on the questions you are asked.

It's a neat idea, I'll giveBy Anonymous on October 4, 2008, 10:46 amIt's a neat idea, I'll give it that. But the screening is a necessary evil these days. People do bring things that could potentially harm flights, and as long as those people exist security at airports is going to have to be extra tight. I for one live near a large airport in a large city and am always seeing things on the news about people with guns, chemicals and the such getting caught by airport security. I mean, I don't enjoy going through security, but I do enjoy living through my flights.

Love the theory, but in general feel it's kind of effed up.By Anonymous on October 4, 2008, 5:20 amI was recently freaking out by the sight of a police office loitering by my parked car for longer than I cared to notice, from afar, as I approached it. I held back for a good 30 minutes before I braved the situation and was instantly confronted by the man in uniform when I approached my vehicle. Pissed off and afraid, I asked what was wrong when he kindly notified me that -- and I'm very aware that this will make me look like an idiot, which I can be sometimes -- that my car had been parked, running, for quite some time (4 hours to be exact). He was genuinely concerned and was kindly waiting for me to return to help if needed. It was then I realized that law enforcement's intentions are not to bust others, but to protect the public. I feel the same about the TSA in this instance. I feel that Evan's attempts -- though interesting in theory -- is not only mocking their well-intentioned duties but presenting an embarrassing example to the general public in belittling their jobs. It's not like they're trying to make our lives difficult with these screenings. Furthermore, reducing the importance of the screenings' significance will only eventually provide a cause to increase these painful screenings when others realize they can pull off these sort of stunts. I'd suggest he find another hobby to exemplify his artistic talents before the impressionable public that comprises the United States decides to follow suit.

Waste of time..but have funBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 11:14 pmI went through a few stages of becoming a TSA before I dropped out because it was too tedious, boring and exhausting. So good on you for making their lives a little harder..especially the box cutter one. It would be nice if you had a message for them that didn't make them feel like they were your target, because they are..no one else is looking at your project but them. And we've been screening bags for a long time..long before before terrorism was such an overused phrase. Have all the fun you want with this but don't act like it's going to change anything or make anyone think. I'm ultra-liberal but how can you really object to airport security like bag screening? It's 2008, technology is amazing and dangerous so give up a few minutes to experience the miracle of flight safely.

You are an idotBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 5:24 pm This all seems like fun but you forget that not too long ago a group of people who wanted to kill thousands of Americans accomplished this by bringing certain items aboard an aircraft. No one likes the screening process. No one thinks that the process catches everything and makes us %100 safe. To jerk around with it however makes you the a***ole. If you really want to have some "fun" just talk about blowing up the airplane while you are waiting in line, or how about taking a little C4 with you the next time you go to the airport. This will not only entertain you but you will also give many other passengers something to talk about at dinner that night. To bring an outline of a box cutter through security is just plain stupid. It would be like bringing a rubber gun into a courtroom. People have died from these items and to you it is a joke. I would have no problem kicking a passenger with this sense of humor off my airplane or leaving you behind while you talk to the cops. If this really bothers you this much then just drive and do us all a favor. Just go along with the process like a good little boy, keep your grumbling under your breath and be thankful that you weren't flying a few years ago on flight 93. Although, you would have enjoyed how quick and easy security was back then so maybe it would have been worth it to you.

So how many terrorists haveBy Anonymous on November 9, 2008, 9:04 pmSo how many terrorists have been found by TSA X-Ray machines? Exactly, and that is because terrorists are not stupid. And dude you seem to be missing the whole "box cutter is the negative space" thing. See the joke is that what you see isn't an actual box cutter because the shape that's made is where the metal is not.

Idot?By Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 6:05 pmFirst of all, calling someone an idiot and then making a stupid typo while doing so... yeah. Good job there, my friend. Secondly, the added security does NOTHING to dissuade anybody who would want to blow up or hi-jack a plane. Zero. All it does is screw with honest people who just want to get where they are going without having some TSA monkey jab a rubber coated fist up their bunghole. What happens if we all follow your advice and let Uncle Sam shove us around? The terrorists win. We lose our freedoms in the name of making us safe, which we won't be anyway. Yes, my Jello pudding is in the garbage and now I can't spill it and cause the plane to crash. Too bad the guy next to me just used his Bic pen to stab some attendant in the jugular and take another hostage.

befuddledBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 9:38 pm*TIEM OUT* *HUDDEL!* With a terrist accent, "my friend" is pronounced "my fuddle-end". Your gonna want that trill in you're speach. *BRAK!*

The one I wany says...By Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 3:41 pmI want one of those sheets of metal that says, "These aren't the droids you're looking for."

An alternate form of protestBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 1:58 pmI'm single and childless, but try to always carry a 4 oz. shrink-wrapped (sealed) jar of baby food in my briefcase when I travel in the U.S. Invariably it's spotted on the x-ray. They take my bag aside and ask if they can look inside. I say "sure" and they take out the baby food and say "what's this?" I say "baby food." They ask, "where's the baby?" I say "I don't have one." They ask, "why the baby food then?" I say, "for the pleasure of watching you throw it out." This does not please them, but rather than extracting vengeance, so far all they've done is waved me on with a scowl.

X-ray ARTBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 10:18 amOMG Have people nothing constructive to do??? People it is time to get over it already -- it is not going away -- it is the world we live in. Stop with the grade school antics that poke at the system. Security at the airport is not a joking matter and sadly when a plane is taken down security will be accused of not doing their job. And part of the blame will be on the society that pokes fun at the rules and says no to the equipment that works.

I agree with AnonBy Anonymous on March 3, 2009, 5:14 pmI completely agree with Anon's comments. What a waste of time to be doing something like this. Airport security is no joking matter. And when this "art guy" comments that he "doesn't like wasting time," well, that's exactly what he is doing. He's wasting everybody's time and there's nothing funny about it. Grow up.

X-Ray ArtBy Anonymous on October 7, 2008, 10:48 amHomer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm! Lisa: That’s specious reasoning, dad. Homer: Why thank you, honey. Lisa: By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away. Homer: Hmm. How does it work? Lisa:It doesn’t work; it’s just a stupid rock! Homer:Uh-huh. Lisa: But I don’t see any tigers around, do you? Homer: Hmm... Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

'it is the world we live in'??By Anonymous on October 4, 2008, 8:01 amSome four years ago I tried to relate my vegetarianism to a friend of my then-roommate. His only response - which I will never forget - was, "But that's how society is." Are you really suggesting we all just go along with societal norms, without challenging the current standard of 'the system'? At least he vented the frustrations we all share into something creative, rather than moaning in line or on a phone just to hear one's own voice.

There are two ways of goingBy Anonymous on October 4, 2008, 11:02 amThere are two ways of going about that, though. You could do this, which basically spreads the message to tired TSA workers and the tired passengers who get held up behind you or you could write letters and start a productive campaign to get things changed if that is what you are after. Whether you like it or not, society has rules. Society has always had rules. Read up on history. If you really want to change societal rules then work with them, not against them, to get your voice heard. And might I add that this has become a social norm because people keep bringing things they shouldn't be onto the plane. It's not for giggles, it's because it still happens.

*baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah* I'mBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 11:17 am*baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah* I'm a sheep. Stop rocking the boat, I get seasick. All this asserting of freedom makes me nervous You're going to throw the tea in the HARBOUR? How juvenile, don't you know those taxes are for our Queen?

NiceBy Anonymous on October 2, 2008, 10:12 pmI'm flying to Vegas next week I am going to make one that reads "THE TSA SUCKS" and see if they notice it! LOL I cant wait! JIff www.privacy.es.tc

I'm still trying to find outBy Anonymous on October 2, 2008, 10:46 pmI'm still trying to find out what "Secret Service Clearance" is.

Security ClearanceBy Anonymous on October 3, 2008, 9:07 amAccording to the secret service web page: "... All Secret Service positions require top secret security clearance. Some positions require the applicant to take a polygraph examination..." These clearances require a lengthy background investigation. Also, FYI naming people who posess these clearances on your weblog is not the best security practice in the world.

Lol...people who haveBy Anonymous on October 10, 2008, 2:05 amLol...people who have government clearances don't have to keep them a secret. I have a security clearance. There in fact is no such thing as a "Secret Service clearance" but yes I wouldn't be surprised if all secret service personnel were required to have a top secret clearance. Even those with the clearances for the most sensitive information, known as top secret/SCI (special compartmented information) are allowed to disclose their clearance. It's actually quite valuable on your resume.

security clearancesBy Anonymous on November 17, 2008, 3:49 pmSir Your misinformed SCI is not the clearance that deals with "the most sensitive information". please know in detail what you speak of.

my badBy Paul McNamara on October 10, 2008, 10:02 am

Being a mere civilian, I used an incorrect term. Fixed above.

I disagreeBy Anonymous on October 2, 2008, 6:52 pmI think this could be very effective. but its not about sending a message to the TSA screeners its a round about and possibly effective way of sending a message to THE PEOPLE about this issue in a way thats not immediately off putting. IE people might start to listen. People might wake up. I am definately going to do this but I am going to do one with the 4th amendment on it. I do not like not being able to cut and paste defeating that was easy. I just HELD the mouse button down and used my other hand to press ctrl+c please take the steps you need to fight spam but do not make my life that much more difficult in the process.

I like it but...By Anonymous on October 2, 2008, 5:33 pmI like it but... I have a friend that works for the TSA. Working for the TSA isn't Rick's first choice for a job but it keeps him close to school, (airframe maintenance and inspection). And while he isn't thrilled by the job, he does try to do it well. He has already seen Evan's site and thought it was cute. But he would like everyone to remember that not only is passenger screening a boring and repetitive job, but that the screeners don't make the rules. (They also don't make a lot of money but that's a different story.) Playing with the TSA screeners may be fun, but it's also fruitless. Ricks speculates that if just half the people that complain to him each day would instead write a letter to their congressman and the Department of Homeland (In)Security, things would improve a whole lot faster. And if nothing else the flood of letters would piss off Congress and TSA management. Rick does thinks Evan Roth has come up with the most creative way to complain yet. And he said he would be secretly thrilled if he got one of Evan's signs at his station. But if Evan thinks he is changing the system through his protests he is sadly mistaken. Rick said, (and this is a quote), "Messing with the sceeners is like kicking the chicken because the cow won't give milk". (Strange analogy but I think I get his point.)

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