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Merlion
07-25-2007, 08:08 PM
This sculpture seems to have got the best brains at CIA baffled.

Wonder what are the two stone like objects in front, causing a bit of distraction to the sculpture? For people to sit on while trying to solve the puzzle, or they happen to be there when the photo was taken?

Kryptos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptos)

Kryptos is a sculpture by American artist James Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia, in the United States. Since its dedication on November 3, 1990, there has been much speculation about the meaning of the encrypted messages it bears. It continues to provide a diversion for employees of the CIA and other cryptanalysts attempting to decrypt the messages.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c6/Pd_cia_krypt-lg.jpg/300px-Pd_cia_krypt-lg.jpg

The main sculpture is made of red granite, red and green slate, white quartz, petrified wood, lodestone and copper, and is located in the northwest corner of the New Headquarters Building courtyard, ....

The name Kryptos comes from the Greek word for "hidden", and the theme of the sculpture is "intelligence gathering." The most prominent feature is a large vertical S-shaped copper screen resembling a scroll, or piece of paper emerging from a computer printer, covered with characters comprising encrypted text. The characters consist of the 26 letters of the standard alphabet and question marks cut out of the copper. This "inscription" contains four separate enigmatic messages, each apparently encrypted with a different cipher. ....

The ciphertext on one half of the main sculpture contains 865 characters in total. The other half of the sculpture comprises a Vigenère encryption tableau. Sanborn worked with a retiring CIA employee named Ed Scheidt, Chairman of the CIA Cryptographic Center, to come up with the cryptographic systems used on the sculpture. Sanborn has since revealed that the sculpture contains a riddle within a riddle which will be solvable only after the four encrypted passages have been decrypted. ....

fritchie
07-25-2007, 08:31 PM
An interesting piece! The various stones are described partially in the article. What looks like a circular pool also is present, though I see no water.

My first reaction was that there was no message, just a joke. But the article claims a message does exist. Sort of a surprise that no one has admitted to a solution.

sculptor
07-25-2007, 09:15 PM
...What looks like a circular pool also is present, though I see no water. ....

The phrase "well of secrets" comes to mind

just a passing thought---unsure of original context

marblecutter
07-26-2007, 10:55 AM
One more page to this enigma:

http://elonka.com/kryptos/

allenring
07-26-2007, 03:57 PM
Hay Merlion I was going to post this guy's work this week, you're too quick for me.

I really like this guy's work. He uses the theme of codes in many other pieces, even some in binary, a theme I use. The CIA piece has fourcodes in it, designed to be solved by hand, not machine. Three of them have been broken, the third still remains a mystery last I heard. His idea was that CIA employees would sit in front of the piece and use paper and pencil to solve the problem, which is what was done.

I was once a contractor for the CIA and have been on the grounds but my time predated this piece, will never get a chance to see it now. It was hard for outsiders to work the code because no complete pictures of the piece were available. A computer guy strung a series of random pics together and that allowed the codes to be solved by outsiders. Other outsiders are working on the forth code, a few obsessivly. He has placed other objects on the grounds that hint at a larger message, still an enigma.

This is an example of extreme site specific work. I think that it is a demonstration of great art when a sculptor can create a piece that is so tied into the function and history of the site that it becomes a part of its culture.

http://elonka.com/kryptos/sanborn.html

Yes the codes are real, here is a link describing the attempts to solve the code. Note that it got tied to the Da Vinci Code, the very popular book and the reclusive Jim Sanborn is not comfortable with the press.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1504223,00.html

Details on the code breaking

http://realmoftwelve.fateback.com/toolbox/kryptosfont.html