Existing comment:
Impossible Objects
Paglen describes his recent sculptural works as "impossible objects." The expression signals both the difficulty of fabricating the objects and the alternative futures they invite us to imagine. Responding to what he sees as the withering of civic institutions under ubiquitous surveillance, Paglen repurposes military and intelligence technologies to help us envision a world free from intrusive government and corporate monitoring.
Nonfunctional Satellites are an example of the artist's impossible objects. With this body of work he asks, "What might aerospace engineering, decoupled from intelligence gathering, look like?" Paglen made the Nonfunctional Satellites shown here as prototypes for an inflatable sculpture to be crafted from a lightweight, mylar-like material. He plans to affix the sculpture, which he called Orbital Reflector, to a small satellite that will orbit for several weeks before disintegrating upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. The Orbital Reflector serves no commercial or military function. Instead, for a brief time it will become an artificial star, a reflective object of pure delight and wonder. |