GREEN-EYED DRONE

Green-Eyed Drone Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm 2017

Good news - I have received notification that my Master of Philosophy [University of Queensland] thesis has been passed by two external examiners without requests for changes. I'm told this is quite rare, so I am feeling pretty happy! Celebration time💥 I will graduate in December, in the end-of-year graduation period.

As regular readers know, once I submitted my thesis for examination, I immediately returned to painting with oil paints. While I was studying I had been painting only works on paper. My own work was not part of the thesis, as it was not a practice based degree.

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Green-Eyed Drone is the first big post-thesis-submission oil painting. The underpainted red background had been completed ages ago. It's glimpsed in a few spots. The layering plus the new  glossy paint makes it really hard to photograph, but here it is! 

Regular readers will understand where the idea of a green-eyed drone came from. Part of my M. Phil research included examination of contemporary militarised technology, including airborne drones and night vision technology. This parlayed into studies about the increasingly blurred lines between civilian and military use of cyber and digital infrastructure and systems. So, simply put, whilst the military utilise increasingly autonomous and unmanned systems to optimise engagement in declared and non-declared battlefields, civilian entities also utilise scoping and surveillance technologies to 'target' customers, constituents and so on. 

Eye/Node

In Green-Eyed Drone there is no drone per se. Rather the idea of being droned is indicated by the red eye/node with the night vision green pupil/node. Here, I play with the often used term to describe an airborne drone ie: "eye in the sky" - indeed, there is a film by the same name. I have some issues with anthropomorphising technology by using words like 'eye' and 'vision'. Thus, I have tried, in this painting, to make the eye look unreal, mechanical, even channeling the appearance of computer chip components. This is extended into the 'eye-brow' radiating signals. These could be surveillance or communication signals, made visible by paint. Or, they could also denote a kind of computer chip board circuitry appearance. Similarly, the radiating rays from beneath the eye/node - they could be lashes or maybe tears. In my mind, they are surveillance signals, again made visible with paint. The so called 'eye' clearly becomes a scope, its night vision capabilities enabling it to scope day and night.

The landscape of bright cadmium red highlights may indicate fiery battle has occurred - the drone having scoped targets and then attacked. Or, the red highlights could be signs of a community; dwellings, roads, and other buildings - under surveillance. Or, maybe it's a landscape of crops. For example sorghum, its red seeds glowing on a moon-lit night? 

Green-eyed monster

I am also playing with the idea of a 'green-eyed monster' - a term coined by Shakespeare in Othello [Act 3: Scene 3]. Iago to Othello says:

Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy!

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on. 

The idea that a green-eyed monster mocks death, feeding upon its victims, is a salient one to ponder as the 'weapons' for contemporary 'battles' become more asymmetrically and pervasively deployed. 

Maybe the tree-of-life, acting as a beacon for life in Green-Eyed Drone, has some answers?  

Cheers,

Kathryn

RETURN OF THE TURPS

"Return of the Turps" is not about me returning to binge drinking - I've not ever binged my alcohol! Rather, it is about me returning to my oil painting. Yes, the smell of turpentine again wafts through my studio [aka garage] and my house. 

After nearly two years completing my Master of Philosophy research thesis at the University of Queensland, I have not only submitted my thesis for examination - it has been returned by both examiners, with terrific feedback, and no requests for changes or corrections. I am VERY happy. 

While I was researching I did not give up my painting practice. Rather, I only worked on paper, using gouache and watercolour paints. My paintings were not part of my university assessment, but as regular readers will know, I've been quite productive! I have quite a large body of what I call "dronescapes". They reflect upon my academic research into militarised drones! 

However, since submitting my thesis, I have now returned to my oil paints. 

In my last post Research Into Drones: How It Has Influenced My Creative Practice I explained how my university research topic came out of my painting practice - and - how the research has, in turn, influenced my practice. But there is something else. What has surprised me is the how two years of only working on paper has caused slight changes in how I paint with oil paints on stretched canvas. I cannot quite put my finger on it yet, but it feels different, and I think the paintings I am working on, look slightly different. This is welcomed! As a painter I want to develop and respond to influences. Regurgitating the same thing or look is not on my agenda - I bore too easily!

               

New oil paintings in progress. On the left is The Green Eyed Drone. It's not quite ready. The other two paintings are in their very early stages.

STUDIO PHOTOS

The two studio photos above show various works in progress. As you can see from the photo immediately above, the painting on the left, The Green Eyed Drone, continues my interest in thinking about militarised drones, surveillance and more. The tree-of-life is also there. I might discuss this new work in my next post - depending on whether I think it is finished. Time will tell.

The painting on the easel in the photo immediately above, is also in the photo at the top. However, in the top photo I have worked on it and, as you can see, I continue to work on it. I am thinking of calling it Zone. 

I am thoroughly enjoying being in amongst the mess of oil paint - paint on my hands, in my hair even, on my face [a surprise to see in the mirror as I quickly check my appearance before leaving the house]. I am also enjoying wearing very old clothes, wiping my hands across them, dabbing my brush on sleeves - and so on. 

Until next week,

Cheers,

Kathryn

RESEARCH INTO DRONES: HOW IT HAS INFLUENCED MY CREATIVE PRACTICE

Dronescapes in my storage drawers

About ten days ago I submitted my Master of Philosophy thesis. For the last nearly two years I've spent most days at my desk at the University of Queensland, School of Communication and Arts. In the evenings and some weekends, I spent time in my studio, painting. It was here that I worked through my research in a different way. Regular readers will know, it has been quite productive!

My university research was focused on  how two Australian artists, George Gittoes and Jon Cattapan, represent contemporary militarised technology in their paintings. Particular attention was paid to their responses to using night vision technology, and in the case of Gittoes, witnessing the deployment of airborne drones. I examined the various moral, ethical and political questions raised by their work. I won't write too much about this aspect of my thesis - as I am looking into publishing articles about each artist. If they get published, I shall let you know!

ART HISTORY - And OTHER DISCIPLINES

Although I was in the Art History department, my research crossed into other disciplines, including Cultural Studies, International Relations and Political Science. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed technical research into militarised drones and night vision, and other cyber and digital technologies associated with their operation and deployment. 

The technical research, coupled with cultural, legal and philosophical critiques of militarised drone technology, inspired my own creative work; my out-of-hours responses to the pictures that popped into my head as I read book after book, article after article, explored drone manufacturer websites, and delved into the history of drone technology and night vision. 

Larger Dronescapes in my map drawers

CREATIVE PRACTICE - ACADEMIC RESEARCH

But, this kind of inspiration is not a departure from my interests prior to commencing my M. Phil. For example, my earlier paintings depicting strings of binary code reflect interests in contemporary technology, and its effects on humanity and life. By juxtaposing code with the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life these earlier paintings also reflect my responses to ideas about existential risk posed by emerging technologies. At uni I had to narrow my topic to specific contemporary technologies. Thus, the focus on militarised technology - drones and night vision's association with increasing surveillance. 

My academic research topic came out of my painting practice - and it has fed back into it. My creative work completed during the last nearly two years is not part of the degree in a formal sense, but I consider it a major contributor to processes of critical thinking and the generation of new ideas. These have influenced both my academic research and my creative inspiration.

BODY OF WORKS ON PAPER

As the photos above demonstrate, I have a lot of paintings to show for my near two years of study. Actually between 80 -90 paintings, some smaller and some larger. They are all works on paper, because I knew oil painting would take too long and I'd be torn between spending time in the studio and at university. Neither activity would have benefited from this! These works on paper, though, track my research processes in ways that enabled spontaneous reaction to the research. The whole experience was really rewarding.

I'd love to exhibit these paintings. Curatorially there are a few aspects that could be developed!

A few exciting things happened during my study with regards to my own paintings. 

• My work was featured by the Center For The Study of the Drone, Bard College, New York - Portfolio: Dronescapes by Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox 
• My work referred to by Dr. Kate Kindervater from Dartmouth College in her review of Dr. Ian Shaw's book Predator Empire
• My painting Gorgon Stare heads Dr. Christopher J Fuller's post on Yale University Press's Blog Yale Books Unbound in the lead up to the publication of Fuller's book See It/Shoot It
• My painting The Tree of Life Sends its Energy Underground is on the front cover of The Australian Women's Book Review 27, no 1 and 2. Additionally my article “Airborne Weaponised Drones and the Tree-of-Life” was also published.
• My painting Red Rain is on the cover of HECATE 42/1 (2016) and an article by me is included in the publication.

RETURN TO OIL PAINTING

The photo below is of two stretched canvases. Yes, the aroma of turps has returned to the studio and house. 

NEWS

My entry, Universal Code, for the inaugural $35,000 Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize has been selected as a finalist. The Award is announced on August 4.

Cheers,

Kathryn

THE NEW CLOUDS

The New Clouds Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

I've previously painted airborne drones as 'clouds' and here is another painting where clusters or swarms of weaponised drones create cloud-proxies in the sky. 

I am playing with ideas of fluffy clouds that literally dance around our skies - and - THE Cloud where, with a click or two on our various cyber devices, we share and send photos, documents, data etc to be 'stored' remotely in ways that are accessible to us. But, who or what else can also access our data? 

TARGETING

In my mind, are also thoughts of targeting! Here, in The New Clouds I've 'targeted' one of the drones and it erupts in flames. But, the remaining drones continue with their proxy 'dances'. They do not seem to detect that they are being watched - by you and me. Here, I've attempted to turn pervasive surveillance, with its targeting agenda, back onto the drones. We - you and me - could be everywhere - above the drones, below them, in front of them or even behind them! 

THE CLOUD

With regards to THE Cloud, it offers another kind of opportunity to 'target'. Advertisers, corporations, governments and so on, can access data that includes our online patterns of behaviour, to 'target' us with goods, services and promotions. There's a plethora of uses for this kind of data - and it is not always as benign as an advertiser targeting your Facebook page with Landrover Discovery ads moments after you have searched online for your dream car! Yes, I am keen on Discos - the old version.

That THE Cloud's operations actually exist and occur as a result of material infrastructure belies the notion of fluffy vapourous clouds. Massive servers require space in huge buildings. Servers suck energy, and they need to be connected and interconnected with cables that cross continents and oceans to ensure backup, rerouting and instantaneous reactions. The harnessing of space based assets to assist connectivity adds another layer of material infrastructure beyond Earth's atmosphere. And, in one way or another, all this infrastructure is used for both civilian and military purposes, thus blurring the lines between battlefield and city/home. 

AWARENESS VERSUS DETECTION

Like the drones in The New Clouds, are we oblivious to the pervasive surveillance into our daily activities? The drones cannot be aware or unaware, because they are not sentient. Their sensor systems simply detect or not. Yet, we have powers of awareness, but are we using them? Do our devices, constantly accompanying us in our pockets, our handbags and embedded in our cars etc transform us into nodes in a system that ultimately renders awareness obsolete and detection capabilities pragmatically more efficient?

The New Clouds is another of my dronescapes or cosmicscapes - or - maybe it's a skyscape? Whatever it is, it reflects upon the technical, philosophical, political and historical research, into contemporary militarised technology, I have undertaken for my Master of Philosophy at the University of Queensland. Happy to report that I submitted my thesis this week! And, I have around 90 works on paper, completed over the last nearly two years, that track my research progress. Now to find somewhere to exhibit them!

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NEWS

My entry, Universal Code, for the inaugural $35,000 Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize has been selected as a finalist. The Award is announced on August 4.

Cheers,

Kathryn

Drone Clouds Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Cloud Storage Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Sky-Drone-Net Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 

CROSSING THE RUBICON

Crossing the Rubicon Gouache on paper 67 x 56 cm 2017

POINT OF NO RETURN

The term 'crossing the Rubicon' means, being at the point of no return. Historically there is a background story. In 49 BC, Julius Caesar's army crossed the Rubicon River in north east Italy. It was considered an act of insurrection and treason, and a declaration of war against the Roman Senate. 

When I painted the new work above, I was also thinking about the event horizon, a cosmological term to describe the 'point of no return' at the entry of a black hole. However, a black hole emits nothing, not even light, and my new painting reveals a fire - is this a hopeful sign? 

FIRE - HEAT - LIGHT

Despite the fire in Crossing the Rubicon indicating light, the tree-of-life seems threatened, not by a black hole's event horizon, but by another kind of possible point of no return. This point relates to climate change commentary regarding global warming. At what point will it be too hot for humans, and other creatures and plants, to survive? Will we all have time to adjust? Or will we be like the proverbial frog placed in water that is brought to the boil - not noticing how hot it is until too late! Should we develop extremophile characteristics? Maybe we are already mutating? Extremophiles are organisms that survive in extreme environments and temperature conditions. Fascinating critters! Yet, maybe transformation into transhuman/robotic entities is the only way we might survive?

In Crossing the Rubicon a tree-of-life is drawn towards a place where it suddenly erupts into fire. However, whilst fire is destructive, it can also symbolise renewal. Maybe the point of no return can be avoided or maybe it triggers something else, another way of being? Maybe the point of no return, 'crossing the Rubicon', is about social and political will? 

Crossing the Rubicon may indicate no return, but it does not negate a future - of some kind. 

COSMIC LANDSCAPE

Crossing the Rubicon is another of my cosmic landscapes. You could be looking down from space upon a literal landscape, maybe not even Earth! Or, you could be looking up at a 'spacescape', witnessing cosmic events unfold. Or, maybe looking into a landscape - somewhere. Cosmic perspectives offer intriguing ways to view ourselves, our planet and our universal environment. 

Please check out COSMIC FIRE and THE BODY POLITIC

Cheers,

Kathryn

THE BODY POLITIC

The Body Politic Gouache on paper 76 x 56 cm 2017

THE TERM 'THE BODY POLITIC'

The term 'the body politic' is used as a metaphor to describe a nation, a sovereignty, a corporation where people are organised, or considered as a group, subjected to laws pertaining to notions of citizenry. 

In a globalised world 'the body politic' can be considered as being all of us. 

The notion of a body to describe a group of people, and the systems that organise them, is intriguing. There is a fascinating history - but that's another post! 

THE HUMAN SECURITY FORUM

I've been stimulated to think about 'the body politic' after attending a terrific one day workshop "The Human Security Forum" hosted by Griffith University and facilitated by Dr. Samid Suliman, here in Brisbane, Australia. One of the presenters was a visiting scholar, Dr. Stefanie Fishel, from Alabama University, USA. Her book The Microbial State: Global Thriving and the Body Politic  is launched this month. [Check it out for the historical and philosophical background to ideas of 'the body politic' too]. 

After hearing Dr. Fishel speak at the workshop, and a few days later at an event hosted by the Queensland School of Continental Philosophy, the metaphoric capabilities of the body [human and non-human] were expanded, but also made more material. In making the metaphor more material, the body's relationship with its environment became more evidently important - for survival. In the age of the Anthropocene, this opens up more penetrative ways to think about 'the body politic's', ie: humankind's, relationship with Earth, the atmosphere and space. As I have previously written, Earth is our home, but the universe is our environment.* By blurring the lines between body and environment, making porosity evident, it becomes evident that they are interchangeable. This interchangeability is metaphoric, visceral and corporeal.

Ah, Ha! The spiritual notion of oneness has a catalytic essence, amongst others - of course! 

TREE-OF-LIFE

So, after mulling over ideas that popped into my head as I listened to Dr. Fishel, the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol kept returning to me [regular readers will not be surprised!] as a motif that straddles the nano and the vast, linking body and environment. As the tree's branching appearance mirrors our human body's internal systems it also mirrors water, plant and landscape systems of Earth. The branching phenomena, above and below the ground, is also reflected in our eyes, on the palms of our hands and in finger prints. Other animals share body functioning traits, as they also share this planetary environment with us. Further afield, the tree's branching appearance is reflected in images of space, from nebulae to even large scale computer simulations of the structure of the universe. And, one wonders about multi-universes as branches and roots from a primordial 'tree' of no end or beginning! 

THE PAINTING - THE BODY POLITIC 

In The Body Politic I have painted another of my cosmic landscapes. The 'body' of the 'landscape' is on fire. This 'landscape' represents all kinds of environments, from the body itself - to a personal address - to a cosmic one - and more. The fire could be taken a couple of ways. Is it a destructive fire, or is it symbolic of renewal? The trees-of-life, moving up the centre of the painting, inhabit what I'd imagined as a kind of airway through the fiery 'body/landscape'. Here, the trees act as filtering follicles that keep air moving, making individual and collective breath possible. That trees literally produce oxygen is a key to the osmotic relationship between breathing bodies, the environment and even organisational concepts, such as the 'body politic'.

The Body Politic can be read as a 'landscape' of a human body - even a slice of it - like an x-ray or other internal views, such as a MRI scan. It could also be read as an multi-perspectival view of a literal landscape. Are you looking into this landscape, almost caught? Or are you above it, looking down upon it, like a remote pilot operating a drone, monitoring successful strikes? Or, are you below it, looking up towards a fiery atmospheric battlefield? Maybe it's a cosmic sky - a future 'scape' of the demise of the sun and the solar system, with the trees representing our scattered star dust - the foibles of human politics now meaningless...?

DATA-PROXY 'BODY POLITIC'

From a technological point of view, the branching appearance of the tree, also mirrors human-made systems, such as computer circuitry. In fact, the tree's branching system is used to 'visualise' flows of data, behavioural patterns and other information. Artificial intelligence systems incorporate what is called 'tree-logic', based on ideas of decision and learning trees. In the age of digital and cyber technology, the 'body politic' extends into realms of technology, where the 'body' is no longer living, but is presented, in subterfuge, as a re-assembled data-proxy. That's another post!

Cheers, 

Kathryn

P.S. Check out this article in The Conversation written by Assoc. Prof Anthony Bourke and Assoc Prof. Stefanie Fishel Politics for the Planet: Why Nature and Wildlife Need Their Own Seats at the UN.

* Selection of other posts where home and environment are mentioned.

HOME 

NEW WORLD HABITABILITY: VACATION ANYONE? 

STORM 

COSMIC ADDRESS

AS I FLEW PAST EARTH, I NOTICED EVIDENCE OF DRONES

As I Flew Past Earth, I Noticed Evidence of Drones, Gouache on paper 76 x 56 cm, 2017

In As I Flew Past Earth, I Noticed Evidence of Drones I have imagined being in a spacecraft, or being a speck of star dust, or being some kind of super force flying around the universe. As I pass by planet Earth I notice evidence of drones, their surveillance and targeting signals. How many drones - I cannot tell. 

I also notice signs of life, human and non-human - fragmented, turned upside down, hidden. However, there are also signs of defiance, regeneration, hope.

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

Regular readers will observe that in this new painting I've taken an aerial perspective, yet again. Indeed, this perspective is evident in most of my work. I like to fly! I also like to think I can take the viewer with me, way beyond Earth, but also perhaps right up close, even inside its crust. This kind of imaginative flying could be a really significant capability in the 'drone age'. As airborne drones loiter in skies, hovering above terrain, scoping with their various surveillance capabilities, our horizons are netted with signals and vertically delivered potential threats. 

PANOPTICON

The airborne drone channels ideas of a panopticon with an intent to observe without being seen. Eighteenth century social theorist Jeremy Bentham proposed a panopticon as an institution designed for inmates, where a single guard could observe prisoners without being seen. That the guard could not be seen meant that prisoners were never sure if someone was observing or how many might be observing. Are we and other living creatures 'inmates' on a planet increasingly surveilled by drones? Should we also think about how satellite infrastructure, currently conscripted to aid communication and environmental awareness for drone operation, is utilised for surveillance and other potentially more lethal purposes? I claim we need to fly beyond our droned skies and beyond orbiting communication and GPS satellites,ie:  way beyond low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit and high Earth orbit, to get some perspective! 

So, if we can 'fly' around the drone and space-based enabling infrastructure then maybe we can subvert the power drone capabilities insidiously deploy. We can, with imagination, turn ourselves into observers with truly full spectrum temporal and spatial agency. 

The trees-of-life in As I Flew Past Earth, I Noticed Evidence of Drones are showing us how - don't you think?

Cheers,

Kathryn  

THE LEAVES ARE LEAVING

The Leaves Are Leaving gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

THE WORLD

As masses of people flee their homes, due to war, conflict, drought, famine, poverty and suppression of many kinds, what does it mean for the soul of humanity? Displaced people flee homes in one country to seek refuge in another, some leave homes to live a homeless life in their own countries, and others never find new homes except in camps and settlements for displaced people. Others, die trying to find a new path. 

As the world runs amok people retreat to extreme beliefs, setting up polarisations that neuter balanced political traction, social cohesion and cultural understanding. Retreat to extremes represents another kind of exodus. A kind of exodus that seems to make things worse.

THE LEAVES ARE LEAVING

In the Leaves Are Leaving a mass of people are on the move, their silhouettes atop a hilly horizon. All the people are red. A flame-like swathe of red leaves shoots upwards into a turbulent sky which is dotted with groupings of red dots. I've deliberately painted the people, the leaves and the dots red - because they all represent the same thing - life. 

Regular readers will know that the leaves are from the tree-of-life, a recurrent theme in much of my work. Here, the tree is not portrayed. It has relinquished its leaves, sending them to seek refuge and safety in realms beyond. 

SUN/DRONE AND DUAL USE

The colourful radiating rays peeping through the stormy clouds could be a sun, but regular readers will realise that they could also be the surveillance and targeting signals of an obscured drone. These rays are symbolic of the insidious infiltration of militarised style surveillance that pervades our physical and online lives. That the rays could be a sun or a drone's surveillance signals demonstrates the increasingly blurred lines between civilian and military use of digital and cyber infrastructures and systems. Two days ago I watched a new short documentary produced by Dr. Ian Shaw. The film is called Remote: A Documentary About Drones and Humans and it demonstrates very clearly how militarised surveillance, under the guise of policing and security, has seeped into our everyday lives. Do watch the film!

Cheers,

Kathryn