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Edward Snowden Hologram Appears in Fort Greene Park

By Janet Upadhye | April 7, 2015 11:23am
 An artist group called The Illuminator projects an image of Edward Snowden in Fort Greene
An artist group called The Illuminator projects an image of Edward Snowden in Fort Greene
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Facebook/The Illuminator

FORT GREENE — It was a bit of "Star Wars" in Brooklyn.

The sculpture of Edward Snowden may have been a bust, but guerilla artists continued their push to lionize the accused whistleblower — projecting a hologram of his face above Fort Greene early Tuesday morning.

The image, created by arts collective The Illuminator, was projected onto the site in Fort Greene Park where a bust of Snowden was illegally erected the day before — and promptly dismantled by the city.

The 4-foot bust was placed atop a pillar in the park by an anonymous artist group and was designed to start a conversation about Snowden, who was charged with leaking classified government documents.

The Illuminator began to design the Snowden hologram after the city concealed, and later removed, the bust.

"The Parks Department and NYPD censored the work by placing a large tarp over Snowden's epitaph, so that while they worked to remove the artwork it remained concealed to the public," the group wrote in a statement.

"Inspired by the actions of these anonymous artists, The Illuminator Art Collective recreated the intervention ephemerally by projecting an image of the sculpture into a cloud of smoke."

The Illuminator uses a van equipped with video and audio projection and was founded during the time of Occupy Wall Street.

The group is responsible for dozens of projections all over the country including an image in support of the Boston Marathon victims projected on The Brooklyn Academy in the aftermath of explosions two years ago.

It is unclear how long the Snowden hologram was projected for and during what time.

The Illuminator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.