Trevor Paglen has been tapped to co-curate the inaugural edition of Zero10, Art Basel’s new digital art initiative, at Art Basel in Basel next week. Titled “The Condition,” the exhibition will feature 15 presentations from galleries worldwide, bringing together historical digital works—such as those by the late Vera Molnár—alongside contemporary pieces by artists like 0xDEAFBEEF and Leander Herzog. Paglen, who recently published the book *How to See Like a Machine: Images After AI*, joins digital art strategist Eli Scheinman in curating a show that aims to move beyond spectacle and highlight the serious, lasting artistic value of digital art.
This matters because Zero10 represents a major institutional embrace of digital art by one of the world’s most influential art fairs, signaling a shift from the hype-driven NFT boom toward a more considered, historically grounded appreciation of digital practice. Paglen’s involvement—as an artist respected in both art and tech circles—lends credibility to the effort, and his curatorial thesis that the distinction between digital and analog art is artificial reflects a growing consensus in the art world. The exhibition could help bridge the gap between traditional collectors and digitally native audiences, potentially reshaping how digital art is collected and valued long-term.