OCCUPIED LANDSCAPES: EVIDENCE OF DRONES
POP Gallery is one of the Queensland College of Art (QCA), Griffith University, galleries.
27 August - 14 September 2019
Please read the exhibition essay Occupied Landscapes: Evidence of Drones
written by Dr. Federica Caso.
Please read the exhibition essay Occupied Landscapes: Evidence of Drones
written by Dr. Federica Caso.
A PANEL DISCUSSION happened on Saturday 31 August from 3.30 pm - 5 pmPanel Members:
- Dr. Samid Suliman, Lecturer in Migration and Security, Griffith University.
- Federica Caso and Cormac Opdebeeck Wilson, both from the School of Political Science and International Studies, the University of Queensland.
- Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox.
L to R: Occupied Landscape, False Lawn, Swarm Clouds Brewing
Installation image at Occupied Landscapes: Evidence of Drones
LINKS
*You can view more paintings on my website HERE
AND - PODCAST
* I was interviewed about my paintings and research by the lead researcher, Dr. Beryl Pong, of the Aesthetics of Drone Warfare project, University of Sheffield, UK.This project is funded by a British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award for 2019-2020. Please listen to the Podcast - it's only 30 minutes.
Mission Capable Landscape oil on linen 72 x 137 cm 2018
OCCUPIED LANDSCAPES: EVIDENCE OF DRONES is my first solo show of new work since 2015. The paintings in the exhibition reflect long-term interests in landscape, symbols [such as the tree-of-life], and existential risk posed by emerging technologies.
The paintings in the exhibition are informed by research into accelerating developments in militarised and militarise-able technology - airborne drones, persistent surveillance and increasingly autonomous systems. This research was conducted as part of my Master of Philosophy degree, completed in 2017 at the University of Queensland. Ongoing research continues to inform my work.
I am interested in how landscape is mediated by militarised and militarise-able technologies. I am particularly interested in examining the signals that enable the operation and functioning of militarised technologies.
Anomaly Detection Gouache on paper 56 x 75 cm 2016
Please browse through my BLOG to see more paintings and to read more about my practice.
_____________________________________________
EXHIBITION ARTIST'S STATEMENT
OCCUPIED LANDSCAPES: EVIDENCE OF DRONES
Occupied Landscapes: Evidence of Drones is an exhibition that poses
questions about the mediation of landscape in the age of the drone, the era of
persistent surveillance and the epoch of increasingly autonomous systems. The
paintings in the exhibition are informed by my long-term interests in
landscape, age-old symbols and existential risk posed by emerging technologies.
My work is also informed by research into accelerating developments in
contemporary militarised technology. This research was undertaken as a part of my
Master of Philosophy [M.Phil], completed in 2017 at the University of
Queensland.
In my paintings I invite viewers to fly, in
imagination, around, above and below airborne drones that lurk in cosmic skies.
As we fly, surveillance is returned to the human being as a kind of
metaveillance. In other words we not only monitor the drones, we also observe
what they are monitoring. This kind of observation reveals how drones, and their
support infrastructure, intrude into the landscape in ways that occupy it. This
occupation becomes a stealthy techno-colonisation of landscape and environment
when enabling signals, ricocheting from land, into the sky and space, are
exposed. By making visible the nets of invisible signals that operatively
enable militarised and militarise-able technology I expose how new kinds of
topographies are mapped onto landscape. However, rather than a surface
occupation, it is a volumetric occupation from land into space. Imposed new signal
topographies mediate human activity and movement through the signal-enabled inter-connectivity
of our personal devices, computers, credit cards, mobile phones, GPS locators and
more. Without signals these devices are largely inert.
In extreme cases interconnectivity enables
the identification and targeting of people by systems increasingly involved in
a conflation of military, security and policing activities. Here, the mediation
of human activity and movement is clear. However, the ability to track and
monitor general populations is an insidious kind of hostage situation that
aides and abets the techno-colonisation. We are all hostages?
In my paintings depicting drones, or
indications of their presence, I rarely include human figures, preferring not
to attempt to tell the stories of others. However, in many of my paintings I include
the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life as a symbol of all of humanity
and life. The tree is often under threat from drones or it stands as a beacon
of hope, Depending on your perspective, and perhaps where you choose to fly in
imagination, humanity could be at risk of civilisation collapse and species
demise, or it could harbour clues for a rich and vibrant future.
There is a lot more to think about – but, I
will leave that up to you now. I hope you find Occupied Landscapes: Evidence
of Drones stimulating, and therefore enjoyable.
Cheers,
Kathryn
No comments:
Post a Comment