Cultweave

SECRET CODEWORDS OF THE NSA: CULTWEAVE
woodblock print (mokuhanga)
6" x 6" (152.4 x 152.4 mm) on Kochi Kozo paper
edition: 20

C is for ‘cultweave.’ Cultweave is a small SIGINT database. SIGINT stands for signals intelligence, which is the gathering of information by intercepting signals. These signals can be communications signals, such as radio or internet, or electronic signals which are non-communications signals gathered by using electronic sensors.

I decided to try for an image that would suggest various networks interacting and converging. I looked at different kinds of weaving images, and felt that strange sense of rightness when I came upon an old-school envelope security pattern called 'basket weave.' I deconstructed it a bit to come up with this design.

Wouldn't it be great if the word "security" simply meant that nobody could look through your envelope to see what's inside?