James Sanborn is the Washington D.C based artist/ sculptor who was commissioned to design a piece of art that could represent the history and ideals of the CIA and to adorn the front of it's headquarters. In 1990 he unveiled "Kryptos," a 4 part encryption that the CIA's best took 7 years to crack. Oh but they couldn't crack the whole megillah. The solution to the 4th section has evaded the world's best cryptanalysts to this day. I wonder if the CIA brass look upon the edifice with pride or embarrassment. I'm inclined to believe the latter since Sanborn himself believes they tried to kill the project during it's construction. Would also fit nicely into the notion of "the power of secrecy," a theme recurrent in Sanborn's projects.
Directed by Stuart Gordon, and starring Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, and Paul Koslo, Robot Jox takes place fifty years after a nuclear holocaust. Conflict in the form of open war is forbidden by the surviving nations who have merged into two socio-political super-nations- the American-influenced Western Market, and the Russian Confederation. To resolve conflicts over land and resources, the two factions agree to hold gladiator-like matches where human "robot jox" battle each other in giant robotic warrior machines. I'm convinced this film simply suffered from being before it's time. What kind of world do we live in where society no longer accepts theatrical product that pits giant warrior robots in battle to decide national disputes? Dudes were on to something.
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