With a new data breach revealed every week, is it possible to safely share anything these days? Even passing notes in class risks a teacher intervention, unless you can smuggle this printer in your backpack. Clearly inspired by Mission Impossible, the messages it prints actually physically self-destruct just moments after leaving the machine, ensuring your secrets are kept that way.
This Tape Will Self Destruct is actually an art-piece by Diego Trujillo Pisanty that serves as commentary on the seemingly neverending hacks and leaks making headlines week in and week out. It prints out random texts and images from works of Cold War fiction that are mixed with excerpts from recently leaked documents. The printed results themselves make for tiny works of art, if only they weren't so fleeting.
Because before the printout leaves the machine, the thermal paper is treated with glycerol and potassium salt which starts an exothermic reaction that turns the paper black and eventually burns it all away. You only have just a few moments to take in the text and imagery before it vanishes—assuming of course your phone or watch or gaming device or tablet or glasses doesn't have a camera on it. [Diego Trujillo Pisanty via We Make Money Not Art via Gear Fuse]