In 2001, Walead Beshty happened upon a short article in a German newspaper about the Iraqi diplomatic mission located in former East Berlin. Due to shifting political regimes, it is now a space occupied by countries whose sovereignty is either defunct or in question. Abandoned for over ten years, this embassy turned squatter's haven now offers only glimpses of its past life of ambassadors and dignitaries. Beshty traveled to the mission repeatedly, collecting photographs, speaking to former Iraqi officials, and even taking up residence for a short period. Beshty's installation acts as a portal to the mission and includes a brutalized bag of embassy ephemera that bears the marks of an inspection by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; waiting room furniture; reading material; and a telephone line that connects museum visitors to a phone at the mission in Berlin. The image of the mission's facade is a composite of two photographs, one spanning the transition from night into day, the other from day into night; other photographs record the impressions of books left after a recent fire. The larger works document the scars on Beshty's camera film left by airport x-ray machines and security checkpoints in its movement across international borders. Their vaporous discolorations add an unexpected beauty to the office debris.