This book chronicles a project intended to explain to someone¿at some point in the distant future, long after the traces of human civilization have disappeared¿what happened to the people who built the derelict spacecraft. Artist/geographer Trevor Paglen spent four years interviewing scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, and artists about the profound contradictions that characterize contemporary civilizations. He collected 100 images inspired by questions about how we conceive of life. These images, which are the centerpiece of the book, will be etched onto an ultra-archival silicon disc nested inside a golden shell and put into orbit onboard the EchoStar 16 satellite in summer 2012. Interspersed with short texts by people who contributed images, ideas, and critical questions to the project, The Last Pictures is a book about perception, communication, deep time, and the economic, environmental and political uncertainties that characterize our historical moment.

Trevor Paglen is an internationally recognized artist, writer, and scholar working across multiple disciplines in a variety of media. Among his books are Blank Spots on the Map, Torture Taxi, and I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed by Me. His art is in the permanent collections of numerous museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.