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Negative Dialectics in the Google Era

A Conversation with Trevor Paglen

Bibliographic Data

ID4300616
AuthorsJulian Stallabra (ArtHistoryAtTheCourtauldInstituteOfArt,HeIsTheAuthorOfArtIncorporated(oxford,2004)AndInternetArt:TheOnlineClashBetweenCultureAndCommerce(tate,2003)), Julian Stallabrass (JULIAN STALLABRASS is a writer, curator, and photographer. A professor in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art, he is the author of Art Incorporated (Oxford, 2004) and Internet Art: The Online Clash Between Culture and Commerce (Tate, 2003)., corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume138
Pages3-14
Publication date2011-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueOctober (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2870 • E-ISSN: 1536-013X
PublisherMIT Press - Journals (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1162/octo_a_00063
OpenAlexW2068154206
LanguageEN
Citations received8

In the last seven years, in a series of performances, publications, exhibitions, and installations, Trevor Paglen has explored the world of hidden military projects and infrastructure. One of his best-known series is Limit Telephotography, for which he trained lenses designed for astronomical photography on secret military bases in the U.S., using their very-long-range photographic capabilities to capture images that would otherwise be hidden to civilian eyes. These are the “limits” that lie at the heart of Paglen’s project: the limits of democracy, secrecy, visibility, and the knowable. He is one of many artists who have evolved new and various ways of engaging with the military and the secret state in the years following the declaration of the “War on Terror.” The work of these artists remains as apposite as ever, as the U.S. and its allies continue to bomb suspected enemies (and anyone else who gets “too close”) and to run “black” sites and secret gulags in which people are held (and tortured) beyond the reach of the law. Paglen has made works that raise fundamental questions about what can be known and seen, while simultaneously writing investigative exposes of the shadow state. This interview explores some of the relations and tensions between the two practices

Art · Art history · Conversation · Declaration · Democracy · Exhibition · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Secrecy · Shadow (psychology · Sociology · State (computer science · Visual arts · Computer Science · History · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Photography and Visual Culture · Psychology

  • Romantic Cybernetics

    Open Access•Thomas Storey•Ecozon European Journal of…•2025

  • Exploring the intersection of art, technology, and social issues on Paglen’s work

    Open Access•Miguel Ángel Roque, Miguel Ángel Roque López•Artnodes•2024

  • Theodor W. Adorno, Artificial Intelligence, and Democracy in the Postdigital Era

    Open Access•Sungjin Park•Postdigital Science and Education•2024

  • An Investigation into Trevor Paglen’s Drones Photographs, Military Targeting, and Looking Slowly

    Open Access•S F Maxwell•Journal of War and Culture Studies•2022

  • Military landscapes

    Open Access•Rachel Woodward•Progress in Human Geography•2013

  • Nekroekfraza

    Open Access•Katarzyna Bojarska•Konteksty Polska Sztuka Ludowa•2026

  • Jpegs

    Ian Rothwell•Philosophy of Photography•2021

  • Freedom of Information Research and Cultural Studies

    Open Access•Kevin Walby, Alex Luscombe•Culture Studies ↔ Critical…•2021

Unique citing works8
Citations per year0,62
Citation span2013 - 2026 (14)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 8

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