WE NEVER SLEEP

Espionage is linked to obtaining rare secrets or confidential information without the permission of the beholder. If in the past, national governments spied on individuals or states, in times of digital communication private individuals are in the capacity of revealing hidden governmental secrets or whistle-blowers fight their government's spying their own citizens. This created perfect grounds for a renewed interest in the mechanisms of secrecy. This book is dedicated to the fascination of espionage as source of current artistic inspiration. International artists address the topic from a contemporary perspective with their works touching aspects of espionage such as surveillance, paranoia, threat, camouflage, cryptography, manipulation, cold-blood and betrayal. The book presents a multitude of artistic strategies as well as unexpected objects and touches the Golden Age of espionage during the Cold War as well as the context of media super-exposure.