Over the last fifty years, hundreds of satellites have been launched into geosynchronous orbits, forming a ring of machines 36,000 kilometers from earth. Thousands of times further away than most other satellites, geostationary spacecraft remain locked in perpetual orbit long after their operational lifetimes.

Commissioned by public art organization Creative Time, Trevor Paglan’s The Last Pictures is comprised of a random sample of photographs placed aboard the orbiting satellite, EchoStar XVI. Paglen collaborated with materials scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a micro-etched disc with one hundred photographs, encased in a gold-plated shell, designed withstand the rigors of space and to last for billions of years.

Sourced from governmental agencies, libraries and artists (including Paglen’s own work), many of the 100 undated pictures allude to topics of science, technology and the environment.  

Other images seem spectacularly random: one picture shows gloved hands holding Leon Trotsky’s brain, while “A Study in Perspective” by Ai Wei Wei shows the dissident artist flipping the Eiffel Tower the bird.

In November 2012 the communications satellite EchoStar XVI reached orbit, with The Last Pictures aboard. The satellite will spend fifteen years broadcasting television and high-bandwidth internet signals before maneuvering into a “graveyard” orbit, where it will become an eternal ghost-ship.

The ICP Lecture Series presents Trevor Paglan: The Last Pictures. Wednesday, October 30, at 7 pm. The School at ICP, Shooting Studio, 1114 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY. Tickets $15. You can also watch the lectures live online on each date at 7 pm ET at lectures.icp.edu. Information. Read Holland Cotter’s article about The Last Pictures in the New York Times. Read an excerpt from the book.