“I think of AI itself,” the artist and author Trevor Paglen has said, “as a monster of capitalism.” The underlying threats of our tech-connected world—particularly the infrastructures of mass surveillance and data collection—are waved away by most people, who don’t acknowledge or understand the potential power of such omnipresence. Enter Paglen, who investigates the invisible through the visible. Trained as a geographer and photographer, his work draws attention to the intricacies of the American surveillance state. In this exhibition a sculpture doubles as a WiFi hotspot, while photographs placed at three different locations in the museum reveal how AI analyzes and labels images of citizens. —E.C.

Trevor Paglen: Opposing Geometries
Carnegie Museum of Art
4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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