Melik Ohanian's video installation, Hidden consists of two images:
one visible, and a hidden second invisible image encoded within the
picture. The second image has been encrypted into the work using a process
called steganography — a method used to encode hidden information inside an
image. According to the FBI, the plotters of the 9/11 attacks used this
system to transmit information via the Internet. In Ohanian's work, the
second image cannot be revealed without the use of decoding software, and
therefore can only be imagined by the viewer. Hidden resonates
with notions of territory, and the politics of control, defense, and
attack.
Ohanian has received international acclaim for works in a broad range of
media that address issues of personal autonomy and identity, access to
territory and information, as well as conceptions of time in today's global
culture.
