“Ten years ago, if you told me I’d be making a show that had a bunch of flowers in it, I’d have said that you were out of your mind,” says Trevor Paglen, the American artist known for photographing such un-floral subjects as U.S.-government black sites, spy satellites, and underwater cables. A solo show at Pace sees Paglen continuing his exploration of surveillance and artificial intelligence, but through the lens of trees in bloom. The photos, imported into A.I. software that colorizes the images according to patterns, are beautiful yet eerie. Something’s off, but you can’t quite put your finger on what it is. The exhibition is Paglen’s subtle warning about our increased reliance on machines. —J.V.

Trevor Paglen: Bloom was featured in the September 5, 2020 issue of Air Mail. Read on