Trevor Paglen on Spark

Still image from the Spark story, 2005.

Art21 guest bloggers Eva and Franco Mattes recently mentioned San Francisco Bay Area artist, Trevor Paglen. Paglen is a PhD candidate in Geography at UC Berkeley, and a photographer who documents restricted military testing grounds using a telescopic lens. Though Paglen has diligently researched and uncovered secrets from the US Government’s “Black World” through his academic and artistic endeavors, he is still embraced by the secret agent community – he is even a member of the CIA Alumni Association. Paglen was a featured artist on KQED’s Spark; stream the video here. An Educator Guide related Trevor Paglen’s work is also available for free download.

Paglen’s new book, “I Could Tell You but Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon’s Black World,” catalogues embroidered patches earned by US Military Personnel upon completion of secret missions.

Still image from the Spark story, 2005.