The title “Room 641A” refers to a surprisingly uncontroversial, or perhaps simply unpublicized, room in a San Francisco AT&T office where the NSA installed splitters and powerful data analysis servers on an internet backbone shortly after 9/11/2001, allowing the agency to essentially copy and analyze the entire internet in real-time. This activity has since expanded to an estimated 10-20 other facilities scattered around the United States. This network acts as a testament to our technical prowess, a frightening example of corporate, judicial, and political collusion, and a window into our shifting perceptions of value as a culture.

It seems as though most of us are comfortable with that fact that we are being watched, provided the culprit is an electronic box whose owner is known to us. In fact, many such surveillance windows into our lives are opened by personal choices. Similarly, the installation Room 641A presents the audience with the option to confine themselves in comfort or roam freely with a sense of unease. The point is not necessarily to judge the systems of choices that we are presented with, but to make us ask “Am I completely satisfied with either outcome?”