Project by Claire Wolsk @clairewolsk

The Daniel Ellsberg Institute for Declassification monumentalizes political accountability and occupies a critical threshold between state power and democratic visibility. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a former defense department analyst, leaked what became known as the Pentagon Papers. the documents revealed systematic lying by multiple presidential administrations about the scope, intent, and consequences of the war. When the New York Times began publishing excerpts, the government attempted to stop them, invoking the espionage act and claiming threats to national security. The case escalated to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the press, establishing a critical precedent: the decision reinforced the idea that the government cannot prevent the press from publishing information in advance. The release of the Pentagon Papers also depended on something more basic: the ability to copy them.
Ellsberg’s act depended on the Haloid Xerox 914 photocopier. The Xerox dictated ownership, granting the operator authority of processed material. The machine itself was imperfect, dangerous, and prone to overheating and small fires, despite these threats, the value of possession and authorship outweighed any risk. The Xerox machine represents both the democratization of information, and the compulsive, almost manic labor required to achieve it. The repetitive acts of duplication, sorting, and distribution mirror the repetitive acts of deception and destruction enacted by the state. Located in direct proximity to the National Mall and the Pentagon, the project situates itself between two symbolic entities: democracy’s public stage and its most fortified apparatus of secrecy. This building is a repository and an argument. It asserts that democracy depends not exclusively on the existence of information, but on the public’s ability to access it in time to act and respond. That the press must be protected not only in principle, but in space. And that the mechanisms of secrecy must be made visible if they are to be challenged. Without visibility and movement, the distinction between truth and secrecy must be made visible if they are to be challenged. The Daniel Ellsberg National Institute for Declassification stands as both infrastructure and indictment. It acknowledges that democracy depends not only on the right to know, but on the systems that make knowing possible.