Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Trevor Paglen : sites unseen / John P. Jacob, Luke Skrebowski ; with contributions by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Kate Crawford

Catalog Data

Author:
Jacob, John P.  Search this
Skrebowski, Luke  Search this
Contributor:
Chun, Wendy Hui Kyong 1969-  Search this
Crawford, Kate  Search this
Publisher:
Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this
Subject:
Paglen, Trevor  Search this
Physical description:
252 pages : chiefly illustrations (chiefly color) ; 32 cm
Type:
Exhibitions
Exhibition catalogs
Date:
2018
21st century
Notes:
"Published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same title, on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from June 21, 2018 through January 6, 2019."
Contents:
Foreword / Stephanie Stebich -- Invisible Images and Impossible Objects / John P. Jacob -- Resistance at a Moment of Danger: On Trevor Paglen's Recent Work / Luke Skrebowski -- Conversation with Trevor Paglen / John Jacob, Trevor Paglen, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Kate Crawford
Summary:
Trevor Paglen is an American artist, geographer, and author. "What I want from art," says Paglen, "is to help see the historical moment we live in." His photographs make visible things we're not meant to see; he regards this invisibility as emblematic of that moment. Looking toward the earth, sea, or sky as earlier artists have, Paglen captures the same horizon seen by Turner in the nineteenth century or by Ansel Adams in the twentieth. Only in Paglen's images, a drone or classified communications satellite is also visible. "For me," Paglen observes, "seeing the drone in the twenty-first century is a bit like Turner seeing the train in the nineteenth century." Turner was less interested in the technology than its effects on perception, by its ability to accelerate human motion. Paglen is interested in our evolving perception in space. Standing in the Western landscape where Adams worked, Paglen photographs the drone as it photographs him. His images suggest that our conceptions of space and visuality are undergoing radical change; the physical limits of vision are no longer a reliable measure of what is visible to (often mechanical) others. Exhibition: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, USA (21.06.2018-06.01.2019).
Topic:
Photography, Artistic  Search this
Art, Modern  Search this
Call number:
N40.1.P134 S65 2018
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1110985