Trevor Paglen (born 1974) is an American artist, geographer, and author whose work covers

mass surveillance Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by Local government, local and federal governments or intell ...

and data collection. In 2016, Paglen won the

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize is awarded annually by the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and the Photographers' Gallery to a photographer who has made the most significant contribution to the photographic medium in Europe ...

and he has also won The Cultural Award from the

German Society for Photography The German Society for Photography (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, DGPh) is a German photography organisation, based in Cologne. It is concerned with the application of photography in art, science, education, journalism, economics and pol ...

.The Cultural Award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh)
". Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie e.V.. Accessed 7 March 2017. In 2017, he was a recipient of a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

Early life and education

Paglen earned a B.A. degree in religious studies in 1998 from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, a M.F.A. degree in 2002 from

the School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum a ...

, and a Ph.D. in

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

in 2008 from the University of California at Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, Paglen lived in the Berkeley Student Cooperative, residing in Chateau, Fenwick, and Rochdale co-ops.

Work

Sean O'Hagan Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer and songwriter who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and for his wor ...

, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2015, said that Paglen, whose "ongoing grand project sthe murky world of global state surveillance and the ethics of drone warfare", "is one of the most conceptually adventurous political artists working today, and has collaborated with scientists and human rights activists on his always ambitious multimedia projects." His visual work such as his "Limit Telephotography" and "The Other Night Sky" series have received widespread attention for both his technical innovations and for his conceptual project that involves simultaneously making and negating documentary-style truth-claims. The contrasts between secrecy and revelation, evidence and abstraction distinguish Paglen's work. With that the artist presents not so much "evidence" as admonitions to awareness. He was an Eyebeam Commissioned Artist in 2007. In 2008 the Berkeley Art Museum devoted a comprehensive solo exhibition to his work. In the next year, Paglen took part in the

Istanbul Biennial The Istanbul Biennial is a contemporary art exhibition that has been held biennially in Istanbul, Turkey, since 1987. The Biennial has been organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) since its inception. Istanbul Biennial p ...

, and in 2010 he exhibited at the Vienna

Secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

. '' Autonomy Cube'' was a project by Paglen and

Jacob Appelbaum Jacob Appelbaum (born April 1, 1983) is an American independent journalist, computer security researcher, artist, Hacking (innovation), hacker and teacher. Appelbaum, who earned his PhD from the Eindhoven University of Technology, first became not ...

that placed relays for the anonymous communication network

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

in traditional art museums. He contributed to the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning documentary film ''

Citizenfour ''Citizenfour'' is a 2014 documentary film directed by Laura Poitras, concerning Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal. The film had its US premiere on October 10, 2014, at the New York Film Festival and its UK premiere on October 17, 2014, a ...

'' (2014), directed by

Laura Poitras Laura Poitras (; born February 2, 1964) is an American director and producer of documentary films. Poitras has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ''Citizenfour'', about Edwa ...

. Paglen features in the nerd-culture documentary ''

Traceroute In computing, traceroute and tracert are diagnostic command-line interface commands for displaying possible routes (paths) and transit delays of packets across an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The command reports the round-trip times of ...

'' (2016). '' Orbital Reflector'' was a reflective, mylar sculpture by Paglen intended to be the first "purely artistic" object in space. The temporary satellite, containing an inflatable mylar balloon with reflective surface, launched into space 3 December 2018. A mid-career survey in 2018–2019, ''Trevor Paglen: Sites Unseen'', was a traveling exhibition shown at the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

in Washington DC and the

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) is an art museum in La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the ...

. In September 2020, Pace Gallery in London held an exhibition of Paglen's work, exploring "the weird, partial ways computers look back at us". His work is included in the permanent collections of the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

, the

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collec ...

, and the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

Experimental Geography

Paglen is credited with coining the term "Experimental Geography" to describe practices coupling experimental cultural production and art-making with ideas from critical human geography about the production of space, materialism, and praxis. The 2009 book ''Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism'' is largely inspired by Paglen's work.

Publications

Paglen has published a number of books. '' Torture Taxi'' (2006) (co-authored with investigative journalist A. C. Thompson) was the first book to comprehensively describe the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

extraordinary rendition Extraordinary rendition is a euphemism, euphemistically-named policy of state-sponsored abduction in a foreign jurisdiction and transfer to a third state. The best-known use of extraordinary rendition is in a United States-led program during th ...

program. ''I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me'' (2007), is a look at the world of

black project Black project is an informal term used to describe a highly classified, top-secret military or defense project that is not publicly acknowledged by government, military personnel, or contractors. United States and black projects In the United S ...

s through unit patches and memorabilia created for top-secret programs. ''Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World'' (2009) is a broader look at secrecy in the United States. ''The Last Pictures'' (2012) is a collection of 100 images to be placed on permanent media and launched into space on

EchoStar EchoStar Corporation is an American telecommunications company, specializing in satellite communication, wireless telecommunications, and internet services. Echostar also provides multichannel video programming and mobile services through its ...

XVI, as a repository available for future civilizations (alien or human) to find.

Publications by Paglen

*''I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me.'' Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2007. . *''Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World.'' New York: Dutton, 2009. . *''Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes, Photographs by Trevor Paglen''. New York:

Aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

, 2010. . With an essay by Rebecca Solnit. *''The Last Pictures.'' Oakland, CA:

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, 2012. . * ''Trevor Paglen''. London: Phaidon, 2018. . With essays by Laren Cornell, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Omar Kholeif.

Publications co-authored

*'' Torture Taxi.'' Co-authored with A. C. Thompson. Brooklyn, NY: Melville House Publishing, 2006. . **Icon, 2007. .

Publications with contributions by Paglen

*''Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism.'' Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2009. . Edited by Nato Thompson. With essays by Paglen, Thompson, and Jeffrey Kastner. *''Trevor Paglen and Jacob Appelbaum – Autonomy Cube.'' Revolver, 2016. . Essays by Luke Skrebowski and

Keller Easterling Keller Easterling is an American architect, urbanist, writer, and professor. She is Enid Storm Dwyer Professor and Director of the MED Program at Yale University. Biography She earned both her B.A. and M.Arch from Princeton University School of ...

on '' Autonomy Cube'', a piece of sculpture by Paglen and

. In English and German.

Exhibitions

Paglen has shown photography and other visual works. *

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ...

, North Adams, Massachusetts *

Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art () is a biographical museum in Medzilaborce, Slovakia, dedicated to the work and family origin of the American artist Andy Warhol. History and activities The museum was founded on September 1, 1991, as a joi ...

, Medzilaborce, Slovakia *

, San Francisco, CA * Bellwether Gallery, New York, November–December 2006 *''The Other Night Sky'', Berkeley Art Museum, 2008 *''A Compendium of Secrets'', Cologne *''Still Revolution: Suspended in Time,''

Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA), formerly known as the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), is a museum and art gallery in Toronto, Ontario. It is an independent, registered charitable organization. ...

, Toronto, May–June 2009. Group exhibition with Paglen, Barbara Astman, Walead Beshty,

Mat Collishaw Matthew "Mat" Collishaw Royal Photographic Society#Distinctions and qualifications, Hon. FRPS (born 6 January 1966) is a contemporary British artist based in London. Work Collishaw's work uses photography and video. With an early foundati ...

Stan Douglas Stan Douglas (born October 11, 1960) is a Canadian artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Since the late 1980s, he has created works in film and photography as well as theatre productions and other multidisciplinary projects that invest ...

, Idris Khan,

Martha Rosler Martha Rosler (born 1943) is an American artist. She is a conceptual artist who works in photography and photo text, video art, video, installation art, installation, sculpture, site-specific art, site-specific and performance art, performance, a ...

, and

Mikhael Subotzky Mikhael Subotzky (born Cape Town, South Africa, 1981) is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. His installation, film, video and photographic work have been exhibited widely in museums and galleries, and received awards including the KLM ...

*''A Hidden Landscape'', Aksioma, Ljubljana, Slowenia *''Geographies of Seeing,'' Lighthouse, Brighton, England, October–November 2012 *''The Last Pictures'', New York, 2012–13 *''Trevor Paglen,'' Altman Siegel gallery, San Francisco, CA, March–May 2015 *''The Octopus'',

Frankfurter Kunstverein The Frankfurter Kunstverein e. V. in Frankfurt am Main is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art and culture. It is one of the oldest German art associations. History The Frankfurter Kunstverein was founded in ...

, Frankfurt am Main, 2015 *''Autonomy Cube,'' Edith-Russ-Haus, Oldenburg, Germany, October 2015 – January 2016. Sculpture by Paglen and

. *''Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2016,''

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

, London, April–July 2016.

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...

shortlist with Paglen, Erik Kessels, Laura El-Tantawy, and Tobias Zielony. * ''Radical Landscapes'', di Rosa, Napa, February–April 2016 * ''L’Image volée'', ''Americas II, Bahamas Internet Cable System (BICS-1)'' and ''Globenet'',

Fondazione Prada Fondazione Prada, co-chaired by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli since 1995, is an institution dedicated to contemporary art and culture. From 1993 to 2010, the Fondazione has organised 24 solo shows at its exhibition spaces in Milan, concei ...

, Milan (group exhibition), 2016 * ''A Study of Invisible Images'', Metro Pictures, New York, September–October 2017

Awards

*2014: Pioneer Award from the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an American international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1990 to promote Internet civil liberties. It provides funds for legal defense in court, ...

. *2015: The Cultural Award from the

(DGPh) *2015: Academy Award as cameraman and director for the documentary film ''Citzenfour''. *2016:

*2017:

, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, IL *2018: Nam June Paik Art Center Prize

Films about Paglen

*'' Unseen Skies'' (2021)

Works

File:National Security Agency, 2013.jpg, Headquarters of the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

on Fort Meade,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

File:National Reconnaissance Office, 2013.jpg, Headquarters of the

National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. f ...

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city ** US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Chantilly (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

File:National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, 2013.jpg, Headquarters of the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to support national se ...

in Springfield, Virginia

References

External links

*
April 2009 interview with Trevor Paglen

Trevor Paglen's appearance on the Colbert Report
from April 7. 2008.
Trevor Paglen and Jacob Appelbaum
''

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Paglen, Trevor MacArthur Fellows 1974 births Living people American conceptual artists American geographers American non-fiction writers American photographers Artificial intelligence art American artificial intelligence researchers Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize winners