NSA is a multi-media project about the intersecting politics of surveillance, national security, and sexuality.


Closet Flag is a re-interpretation of the rainbow pride flag using color codes from classification levels of government documents in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and other unnamed countries. On one end, green represents unclassified and publicly available information, and, on the other end, black represents information that is only available to a few important people. The reverse side is solid black so it can be hidden or double as a black-out curtain.

In line with the proliferation of queer flags, Closet Flag represents a foundational moment for many queer people, and better represents the reality of disclosure: there is no "in or out" binary, but many levels of outness that queer people continuously navigate.



NSA is the National Security Agency, a United States governmental agency.

NSA may also refer to:

No strings attached, an expression for casual sex often used in personal ads.


In 2013, when news organizations began disclosing unchecked and pervasive surveillance programs operated by the National Security Agency, the implications of our digital infrastructure were laid bare. Largely through documents provided by Edward Snowden, these disclosures detail the interception of internet traffic, direct access to the servers of major tech companies, and the collection of metadata from millions of cellphones.

For this project, I am using burners to override the GPS location in Grindr to interact with men living close to the areas of the world that the United States is using unofficial and indirect war tactics such as cyberwarfare and predator drone strikes. Burners are often scrutinized because they can be used to anonymously subvert surveillance, but, for people living in these areas of the world, they are often the only means of accessing the internet. By manipulating my GPS location in this way I am increasing my chances of entanglement in domestic surveillance, because case law and surveillance defenders have repeatedly suggested that Fourth Amendment protections only apply when all involved parties are American citizens. Any implications, even incidental ones, are stored indefinitely in government data centers for possible future uses.

By creating and mining my own archive of communications, I have made a series of revolving works which map the intersecting politics of networking, surveillance, human rights, and global identity. Cues of surveillance culture infiltrate seemingly innocuous cues of local culture: black tinted glass and RF shielding mesh, used at the National Security Agency’s headquarters to protect their surveillance tactics, here shield mundane but intimate moments; and a landmark speech by the U.S. Secretary of State on human rights become the vocals of a local gay bar soundtrack.

Local and international, personal and political, private and professional worlds converge most blatantly online. As we move into an increasingly networked world, digital technology gives us unprecedented opportunities for connection, but it also gives us unprecedented opportunities to be surveyed. Our rights are still dependent on the physical boundaries that are increasingly blurred by new technology, and, as billions are coming online for the first time, it will become harder to ignore such scrutiny placed on our digital activities and social circles. In the current digital landscape, where everything is considered fair game for exploitation, there are always strings attached.


This project was made possible by support from Northern Lights.mn, The Jerome Foundation, and The Soap Factory. Additional support was provided by Peter Happel Christian, Nathan Renquist, and Matthew McWilliams. Additional photography by Rik Sferra.


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