How Micro-Scale Engravings Inspire ATM–Place Flags

“Chip graffiti” refers to the tiny illustrations and signatures secretly engraved by engineers onto microchips during the 1970s–80s. These hidden marks functioned both as personal traces of the makers and as identifiers used to prevent counterfeiting. Although the practice declined with automated production, it revealed something crucial: even in highly technical, anonymous systems, human presence and authorship persist.

My ATM–Place Flags draw from this idea, treating ATM interfaces, chip cards, and PCB layouts not only as functional tools but as infrastructures carrying hidden narratives. By visualising circuits, security graphics, and metallic traces as symbolic elements, the flags expose the human, emotional, and political layers embedded within everyday financial systems.

Source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-secret-art-of-chip-graffiti