Breaking Cover: Trevor Paglen with a bold artistic approach to challenging societal thinking and setting new precedents

Breaking Precedent

In this episode of Breaking Precedent, host Leah Solivan talks with Trevor Paglen, an artist, researcher, and adventurer. Trevor shares the hidden layers of our world through art, from covert military installations to undersea internet cables. His work, featured in renowned institutions like the Pace Art Gallery and the Smithsonian Institute, spans photographing submerged cables to launching art into space. They discuss the intersection of art and AI, its societal implications, and how technological advancements redefine visual culture. Paglen's innovative approach challenges precedents and reshapes our understanding of the world and the unseen forces influencing it.

Guest Bio and Links:

Trevor Paglen is an acclaimed artist, photographer, and geographer whose work explores surveillance, secrecy, and technology themes. His unique practice merges art with investigative journalism, creating works that question societal norms and unveil unseen structures in modern society. Paglen’s work has been showcased at the Pace Gallery, the Smithsonian Institute, and even launched into orbit.

Listeners can learn more about at his website, on IG @trevorpaglen

Resources:

Law: Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on what is precedent?

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Intro
• (0:20) Leah introduces guest, Trevor Paglen: Artist, Researcher, and Adventurer to Breaking Precedent
• (5:00) The role of precedent in Art
• (7:45) Three different pockets of precedence
• (11:00) The intersection of Art and AI
• (16:30) The PsyOps project at Pace Gallery
• (18:00) The influence of military upbringing
• (22:30) Paglen recounts early military experiences that created curiosity
• (27:00) Surveillance Art - making the invisible visible
• (32:30) The evolution of data collection and AI
• (35:00) The impact of training data on AI systems
• (39:00) Experimental Geography and Scholarship
• (40:30) Trevor describes his artistic goal as “understanding how to see the world.”
• (44:45) Art in Space - The Last Pictures project
• (49:30) Ethical considerations in creating for the future
• (56:30) Art’s potential to challenge societal norms

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Leah Solivan is the host of Breaking Precedent, a podcast that explores the stories of innovators who are pushing societal boundaries and setting new precedents in their fields. Leah is General Partner at Fuel Capital, where she invests in early-stage companies across consumer technology, hardware, education, marketplaces, and retail. Leah has 15 years of experience building and creating technology products that have reached millions of people around the globe. She started her career at IBM as an engineer in the software group, working on Lotus Notes and Domino. In 2008, Leah founded TaskRabbit, the leading on-demand service marketplace in the world.

Connect with Leah:

Website: breakingprecedent.com/

Instagram: @labunleashed

X: @labunleashed