Petrine

Sophie Kovel

Demos

18.09.2026 — 31.10.2026
Paris

The US state is constituted by both public and private gatherings. The most secure of these meeting spaces—intended for top secret information—are called SCIFs (Secure Compartmented Information Facilities).

Famous examples include the White House Situation Room (which contrary to its name, is actually a complex). But SCIFs are far more nuanced: they can be portable, modular, exist in embassies, and even near sites of combat. SCIFs are structures that require US government sanctioned assembly. Images of them are quite rarefied, with few notable exceptions.

SCIFs are a part of security infrastructure, and as such, are relatively unknowable.

From the limited public information that does exist, Demos considers the parts that make the whole.

Sophie Kovel
Nonpublic information (shirts, ties), 2026
Interior paint on wall

Sophie Kovel
Nonpublic information (jackets, pants), 2026
Interior paint on wall

Sophie Kovel
Demos, 2026
EPAL1, polyurethane panels, boxes, generator, multi-position ladder, stackable toolcases, cargo straps
120 x 132 x 210 cm
47 1/4 x 52 x 82 5/8 in

Sophie Kovel
Security Measures I, 2026
Archival pigment print
23 x 29.5 cm, 37 x 41.75 cm (framed)
11 5/8 x 9 in, 16 1/2 x 14 1/2 in (framed)

Sophie Kovel
Security Measures II, 2026
Archival pigment print
23 x 29.5 cm, 37 x 41.75 cm (framed)
11 5/8 x 9 in, 16 1/2 x 14 1/2 in (framed)

Sophie Kovel
Security Measures III, 2026
Archival pigment print
29.5 x 23 cm, 41.75 x 37 cm (framed)
9 x 11 5/8 in, 14 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (framed)

Sophie Kovel
Security Measures IV, 2026
Archival pigment print
29.5 x 23 cm, 41.75 x 37 cm (framed)
9 x 11 5/8 in, 14 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (framed)

Sophie Kovel
Security Measures V, 2026
Archival pigment print
29.5 x 23 cm, 41.75 x 37 cm (framed)
9 x 11 5/8 in, 14 1/2 x 16 1/2 in (framed)

Sophie Kovel
Security Measures VI, 2026
Archival pigment print
23 x 29.5 cm, 37 x 41.75 cm (framed)
11 5/8 x 9 in, 16 1/2 x 14 1/2 in (framed)