Join us for a KEYNOTE by artist, researcher and MacArthur Genius Grant awardee Trevor Paglen, followed by a Q&A moderated by our Director Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy.

KEYNOTE
Trevor Paglen
Machine Visions: Artificial intelligence, technology and power.

Trevor Paglen is an artist, researcher and writer celebrated by Guardian journalist Sean O’Hagan as ‘one of the most conceptually adventurous political artists working today’. His work spans topics such as state surveillance, data politics, experimental geography, investigative journalism, image-making, sculpture, writing and engineering. Among his chief concerns are learning how to see the historical moment we live in and developing the means to imagine alternative futures.

In 2019, Paglen’s project ‘ImageNet Roulette’, developed with researcher Kate Crawford, resulted in over 400 categories and 600,000 images being purged from the ImageNet database after their machine-trained tags proved to be problematic and in many cases bizarre. In the wake of the viral impact of this project, Paglen’s KEYNOTE lecture Machine Visions discusses the rising significance of artificial intelligence and machine vision, as well as the relationships between technology and power.

The KEYNOTE series is a new monthly platform in Rotterdam to gather in thought and conversation. Each KEYNOTE takes place on Friday nights in MELLY, and online, focusing on the voices of artists and ways of ‘sense-making’ in art and society.

—Supported by

The activities at MELLY are supported by the Droom en Daad Foundation.