The Lizard People Are Here!
A Performance-Lecture with MacArthur Fellow Trevor Paglen
Event Details
Featuring MacArthur Fellow and Guggenheim Award winner Trevor Paglen
At a moment when AI has worked its way into everyday life, artist Trevor Paglen comes to the UW—Madison campus to deliver a performance-lecture that looks at the long history of manipulating the human mind. Drawing on magic, mind control, UFOs, psyops, and mythic symbols, he challenges attendees to consider the hidden systems and algorithms that quietly shape what we perceive, what we know, and who holds power.
Dr. Paglen is an artist and writer whose work explores mass surveillance and data collection. He is a MacArthur Fellow and Guggenheim Award winner and was recently named one of the Time 100 Artists of 2026 for his work on visualizing mass surveillance. He also has a new book out on the future of visual art and computer vision.
We value inclusion and access for all participants and are pleased to provide reasonable accommodations for this event. Please email brady.krien@wisc.edu to make a disability-related accommodation request. Reasonable effort will be made to support your request.