When people understand that they are constantly monitored, they are more conformist - they are less willing to take up controversial positions - and that kind of mass conformity is incompatible with democracy. Trevor Paglen More Quotes by Trevor Paglen More Quotes From Trevor Paglen I would say that the fundamental question of geography is about how humans shaped the Earth's surface and how we, in turn, are shaped by the ways in which we have shaped the Earth's surface. So, for me, geography was just a set of tools that allowed me to ask these kinds of questions and to try to think through them. Trevor Paglen try think me earth Infrastructures of power always inhabit the surface of the earth somehow, or the skies above the earth. They're material things, always, and even though the metaphors we use to describe them are often immaterial - for example, we might describe the Internet as the Cloud or cyberspace - those metaphors are wildly misleading. Trevor Paglen always internet power earth How has the sky been transformed by drones? How has the ocean been transformed by the fact that over 90% of the world's information travels in underwater cables? Trevor Paglen information ocean sky world What would the infrastructure of the Internet look like if mass surveillance wasn't its business model? Trevor Paglen like look internet business Although the organizing logic of our nation's surveillance apparatus is invisibility and secrecy, its operations occupy the physical world. Trevor Paglen nation surveillance logic world Engineers working in the 'black world' of classified military projects are often referred to in military circles as 'black hats.' There are a lot of jokes about the difference between 'white hats' and their spooky counterparts. Trevor Paglen jokes black white world Geosynchronous spacecraft will be among civilization's most enduring remnants, quietly circling Earth until the Earth is no more. Trevor Paglen more will earth civilization People like to say that my work is about making the invisible visible, but that's a misunderstanding. It's about showing what invisibility looks like. Trevor Paglen misunderstanding work people looks I want to help develop a visual and cultural vocabulary around surveillance. Trevor Paglen help surveillance vocabulary want I don't put work in an art gallery because the next day I want people to march in the streets. Trevor Paglen day work people art Looking out at the photographic landscape that surrounds us - the world of images and image-making that we inhabit - it seems obvious that photography has undergone dramatic changes in its technical, cultural, and critical composition. Trevor Paglen looking landscape photography world I have to admit that I'm not very good with grammar. They taught grammar in elementary and high school, but I went to public schools, so I never really learned it. Trevor Paglen never good high-school school The dead spacecraft in orbit have become a permanent fixture around our planet, not unlike the rings of Saturn. They will be the longest-lasting artifacts of human civilization, quietly circling the Earth until the sun turns into a red giant about 5 billion years from now. Trevor Paglen dead red earth sun We humans have always looked to the sky as a sounding board for asking big questions about ourselves: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? Trevor Paglen questions big always sky I always start with the assumption that everything that happens in the world is actually in the world. It sounds like an obvious thing to say, but it's a very powerful methodological premise. Trevor Paglen say start powerful world What I thought was fascinating about comparative religion was that these were the stories that humans have told themselves about where they come from, who they are and where they're going, and what it means to be alive on the planet. Trevor Paglen going thought alive religion
