[spectre] Geographies of Seeing by Trevor Paglen at Lighthouse

[Honor Harger]

Dear Spectres,

I am delighted to let you know about the next exhibition at Lighthouse, "Geographies of Seeing" by Trevor Paglen.  

The show is part of Brighton Photo Biennial 2012, which this year explores "The Politics of Space".  Resonating perfectly with both the Biennial theme and this year's Lighthouse programme theme, "Uncharted Territories", "Geographies of Seeing" explores the secret activities of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, allowing us to experience unmapped territories which are normally hidden from view.

Lighthouse are thrilled to be working with Trevor Paglen again, after presenting his work at the "Invisible Fields" exhibition (http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/invisible-fields) in Barcelona earlier this year.  
This is Paglen's first UK solo show.

I am including further information about the exhibition below.

I hope this finds you very well.

Best wishes,


Honor Harger

Director
Lighthouse
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk



Geographies of Seeing by Trevor Paglen
An Exhibition for Brighton Photo Biennial 2012
Lighthouse, 28 Kensington St, Brighton, BN1 4AJ
6 October – 4 November 2012
Preview: Friday 5 October, 6pm.
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/trevor-paglen-geographies-of-seeing

Lighthouse and Photoworks invite you to a rare solo show by social scientist, artist, writer and provocateur, Trevor Paglen. His exhibition is part of UK’s largest curated festival of photography, Brighton Photo Biennial, which this year explores how space is constructed, controlled and contested.
 
Renowned for his investigations into the clandestine activities of the U.S. government, Paglen’s work deliberately blurs lines between science, contemporary art, journalism, and technology.

Geographies of Seeing, curated by Brighton Photo Biennial and Lighthouse, draws together a collection of Trevor Paglen’s celebrated photographic work which explores and documents hidden worlds. The exhibition is focussed on two bodies of work:
 
The Other Night Sky uses data from an international network of amateur satellite watchers to track and photograph classified spacecraft. Echoing the efforts of historic astronomers, Paglen documents astral movements that don’t officially exist.
 
In the series Limit Telephotography, Paglen adapted the super-strength telescopes normally used to shoot distant planets, to reveal top-secret U.S. governmental sites, sometimes 65 miles away from his camera; covert bases, so remote they cannot be seen by an unaided civilian eye from any point on Earth.
 
For more information visit: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/trevor-paglen-geographies-of-seeing
 
About the Artist
http://www.paglen.com
Trevor Paglen (born in 1974) is an American artist, geographer, and author, currently based in New York. He constructs unfamiliar, yet meticulously researched ways to see and interpret the world around us. 

He has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; The Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Institute for Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; the 2008 Taipei Biennial; the Istanbul Biennial 2009, and numerous other places.
His most recent work, Last Pictures, launched in New York in September. 

Paglen coined 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. His work has received widespread attention for both his technical innovations and for his conceptual rigour.
 
He is also author of three books including Torture Taxi (2006), the first book to comprehensively describe the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program, I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me (2007), which is a look at top-secret military programmes, and Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World, which is a broader look at secrecy in the United States.
 Paglen is represented by Galerie Thomas Zander.
 
About Lighthouse
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk
Lighthouse is a digital culture agency based in Brighton that supports, commissions and exhibits work by artists and filmmakers.  Occupying an important strategic position at the intersection of the art, film and creative industry sectors, Lighthouse creates vibrant, inspirational programmes that show how important artists and filmmakers are in a changing media landscape. Lighthouse demonstrates that digital culture is about more than technology and tools; it is about ideas, emotion, learning, and aesthetics.  Lighthouse shows work in their own venue in Brighton, and works in partnership with galleries, museums, festivals, and cinemas nationally and internationally.  Lighthouse also runs the UK’s leading mentoring programme for filmmakers – Guiding Lights, and manages the BFI's new short film scheme, BFI Shorts 2012.

Geographies of Seeing by Trevor Paglen forms part of Lighthouse's 2012 thematic programme, Uncharted Territories, which explores the fundamental human urge to explore, map and understand new territories.  Under the banner of Uncharted Territories, Lighthouse have also commissioned and presented new work by The Otolith Group, Invisible Flock and David Blandy, as well as produced a major international exhibition, Invisble Fields in Spain, which also included Paglens work. For more information: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/theme
 
About Brighton Photo Biennial
http://www.bpb.org.uk/2012/
Brighton Photo Biennial 2012 is curated and produced by Photoworks, the UK’s leading visual arts agency for photography. It features work by Edmund Clark, Omer Fast, Julian Germain, Jason Larkin, Corinne Silva, Thomson and Craighead and more. Based around the theme, The Politics of Space, the Biennial looks at how space is constructed, controlled and contested, how photography is implicated in these processes, and the tensions and possibilities this dialogue involves. It provides a critical space to think about relationships between the political occupation of physical sites and the production and dissemination of images.
 
Credits and Contacts
Geographies of Seeing by Trevor Paglen
Dates: 6 October – 4 November 2012
Times: 11-6pm, daily
Venue: Lighthouse, 28 Kensington St, Brighton, BN1 4AJ
 
For more information, contact: Honor Harger, Lighthouse Director
Email: honor at lighthouse.org.uk
Tel: 01273 647197
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk
 
Geographies of Seeing is part of Brighton Photo Biennial 2012. We are grateful for support from Arts Council England, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Brighton and Hove City Council.