GHOST SHADOWS

Ghost Shadows Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2023

Ghost Shadows is a new painting, inspired by thinking about the Royal Australian Air Force and Boeing collaboration to develop the MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone, previously called the Loyal Wingman drone. I have a number of earlier paintings that also reference the Loyal Wingman/Ghost Bat drone. You can see them in my 2021 online exhibition Wingman (MQ-28 Ghost Bat) Online Exhibition

Ghost Bat

With this new painting I was thinking about the name Ghost Bat, the name of a real Australian bat, applied to a drone. So, that got me thinking about ghosts, bats and shadows, stealth and invisible aspects of contemporary war. I was also thinking about landscape, geographical, technological, military, and other-worldly. As regular readers know I am currently undertaking my creative practice-lead PhD with an examination of increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum. 

I 'see' the technological landscape as mostly an invisible one, a stealthy signalic techno-colonised landscape from Earth to orbiting satellites. My aim, in my work, is to make the invisible 'landscape' visible! Yes, hardware and devices mark and move through our physical environments, but enabling signals are transmitted wirelessly or via discrete cables [eg: undersea internet cables]. I am mostly interested in wireless signaling/transmissions that enable light-speed or near light-speed connectivity, interconnectivity, operability and interoperability of civilian and military systems and devices. 

Shadow or Shadows 

Initially I was going to call the painting Ghost Shadow, but then I decided to make the shadow plural - thus, Ghost Shadows. The plural draws in multiple aspects of drone and robotic technologies - especially the fact that they are nodes in a system. Thinking imaginatively, what kinds of shadows does the militarised techno-system cast? Could the system be a multi-faceted shadow that we don't see - except in my painting? Maybe we should go looking for shadows! If we thought of ourselves as bats, let's lurk in the night, in the dark, using imagination to see things beyond sight. 

Fragmented Force

In  Ghost Shadows a Ghost Bat drone is identified as a fragmented force, a strange craft flying through the sky. This fragmentation 'speaks' to the drone's many capabilities, those disclosed by the developers, and those that have not been disclosed. The fragmentation evident in the whole painting alludes to pixels and the techno-reliance on imaging capabilities for operation, orientation, ISR, and targeting. Yet another interpretation could be that bits of the Ghost Bat drone have been flung into the sky. Has it spawned more bats? Or, has the drone been compromised? The dark large and small fragments might be shadow-indications of more drones or piloted aircraft - after all the Ghost Bat drone has been designed to accompany fighter jets. Thus, is this a scene of a mid-air battle between autonomously flown drones and piloted craft - debris scattered. But, is the debris material, or in an age of accelerating technological development, is it the debris of hopes and dreams?

Lots more to say - but I will leave the painting with you now! What do you think of the red fragments!?

Cheers,

Kathryn

WINGMAN (MQ-28 GHOST BAT): ONLINE EXHIBITION

                                             Wingman (MQ-28 Ghost Bat) Oil on linen 97 x 115 cm 2020

This online 'exhibition' was launched in September 2021. Since then I have made a few updates. In late March 2022 the Loyal Wingman drone was renamed the MQ-28 Ghost Bat. Here's a Boeing Youtube Video  and an article in Defence Connect online about the rename.

2024 UPDATE:

I have added two more paintings that feature my versions of Ghost Bat drones. One is Force Multiplication  and the other Ghost Sky .

2023 UPDATE: 

February 2023, I have added a new painting Ghost Shadows. 

WINGMAN (MQ-28 GHOST BAT): Online exhibition.

September 2021

What prompted me to curate this online exhibition?

A few days ago it was announced that the Royal Australian Air Force and Boeing jointly developed Loyal Wingman drone [MQ-28 Ghost Bat] is proposed to be assembled at the Aerospace and Defence precinct at Wellcamp airport, near Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. You can read the Queensland Government media statement here.  

Wellcamp - Toowoomba
I know the Wellcamp area, but it has changed a lot in recent years! Since local Toowoomba company Wagners built the international airport at Wellcamp, Toowoomba has become a major hub, other than for boarding schools, retired country folk, and specialist medical help. I grew up on my parent's grain farm outside Dalby, about an hour west of Toowoomba. I went to school in Toowoomba for the last part of my secondary schooling. My maternal grandfather's family had a property at Drayton, not far from Wellcamp. My paternal grandmother grew up on a farm very close to Wellcamp, on the other side of Gowrie Mt. My paternal grandfather's first property, after returning from WW1 [Light Horse], was also close by. 

Research
As regular readers know I have been researching airborne drones, surveillance systems, and increasingly autonomous systems, for over six years [Update 2024: now nine years]. My current PhD [conferred December 2023] research examines [examined] increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum [EMS] as an enabler of technology, a type of fires [weapon], a manoeuvre space and a domain. The EMS is also an enabler of civilian technology ie: communication, GPS, Internet, Cloud storage, security systems and so much more. So, my PhD research also examines [examined] how signal-enabled connectivity, interconnectivity, and interoperability of systems and devices exposes civilian technology to appropriation by state or non-state militarising forces. 

* My PhD thesis is available at Curtin University's [Western Australia] e-space, Drones, Signals, and the Techno-Colonisation of Landscape.

Wingman (Ghost Bat) Paintings
Last year [2020] I started painting images that included the Loyal Wingman drone, Australia's first manufactured military aircraft in over fifty years. Described as a 'gamechanger' in drone technology, the Loyal Wingman [MQ-28 Ghost Bat] is designed to accompany crewed fighter jets. There is a plethora of online commentary about the Ghost Bat drone's capabilities, which include, autonomous functions, enhanced electronic and electromagnetic capabilities, advanced multi-sensor capabilities, and stealth design. Interchangeable nose-cones will provide payload dexterity across a crewed and uncrewed teamed mission. The drone is also export-able. 

In 2019 I wrote a post Pay Attention: The Drones Are Here where I first mention the Loyal Wingman drone. 

WINGMAN - GHOST BAT

THE EXHIBITION 

While informed by extensive research, my paintings are speculative and imaginative. They are the result of what I call 'imaginational metaveillance', a 'flight' into imagined cosmic perspectives. This 'flight' is taken without the aid of augmenting or simulation technology. With the benefit of imagined distance, what anomalies can we see as we fly around and beyond drones and their support infrastructure? I say we because I invite you to 'fly' in your imagination too. 

The paintings are chronologically displayed, from the first to the most recent

Each painting in the exhibition has a hyperlinked title. Please click on these to read my previous posts about each painting. 

Theatre of War Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

Theatre of War: Smart Team Gouache on paper 56 c 76 cm 2020

Theatre of War: Pattern Recognition Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

Verified Landing Site Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

Future Memory Oil on linen 122 x 137 cm 2021

Artificial Trees: Pulling the Future Towards Us Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

                                  Theatre of War: Photons Do Not Care Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

Ghost Shadows Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2023

Ghost Sky oil on linen 65 x 112 cm 2023

Force Multiplication Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2023

WINGMAN: List of Paintings

Wingman April 2020

Theatre of War September 2020

Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation October 5 2020

Theatre of War: Smart Team October 10 2020

Theatre of War: Pattern Recognition October 27 2020

Verified Landing Site  April 2021

Future Memory May 2021

Artificial Trees: Pulling the Future Towards Us June 2021

Theatre of War: Photons Do Not Care  July 2021

Ghost Shadows February 2023

Ghost Sky  November 2023

Force Multiplication  December 2023

Thank you for viewing,

Kathryn

THEATRE OF WAR: PHOTONS DO NOT CARE

Theatre of War: Photons Do Not Care Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

 

This is the tenth in my series Theatre of War. It is, however, my first oil on linen in the series. The others have all been works on paper.

The title of the painting was inspired by words written by Maj John Casey in a very interesting 2020 article "Cognitive Electronic Warfare: A Move Towards EMS Maneuver Warfare" for the online journal OTH: Over the Horizon: Multi-Domain Operations and Strategy. Casey wrote "The EMS knows no limits and the photons do not care about threat envelopes, fire support coordination lines, national interests, or boundaries."

PhD

As regular readers know I am currently undertaking a creative practice-lead PhD through Curtin University, Western Australia. My research examines the increasing interest militaries around the world are paying to the electromagnetic spectrum [EMS] as an enabler of technology, a type of fires, a 'maneuver space' and a domain. Given that interconnectivity, networking and interoperability draw EMS-reliant civilian technology into militarised capabilities, I argue - we all need to pay attention. 

All frequencies in the EMS [radio to gamma] are made up of photons, massless particles agitating at different energy levels, but all travelling at the speed of light. Lower energy radio frequencies have longer wave lengths and gamma waves have very short wave lengths. The light spectrum is the only one visible to humans [without tech assistance]. 

Casey's comment that photons "know no limits" reminds us that networked and interconnected technologies utilising the EMS have operative functions that, for example, reach light speed. Photons are quantum particles existing in dimensions of space and time that are beyond human access, but not beyond human desires for optimised tactical advantages. Here, I am reminded of Paul Virilio's comment, 

The fact of having reached the light barrier, the speed of light, is a historic event, one which disorients history and also disorients the relation of human beings to the world. If that point is not stressed, then people are being disinformed, they are being lied to. For it has enormous importance. It poses a threat to geopolitics and geostrategy.*

As Casey reminds us, photons do not care about "national interests, or boundaries". Thus, we need to pay attention to military interest in the EMS as accelerating speeds of technological operation, even light speed operative capacities, are likely, as Virilio warns, to disorient the relation of human beings to the world to the point that geopolitics and geostrategy are threatened. If we are disoriented - will we even notice? 

Theatre of War: Photons Do Not Care 
Stars in the universe sparkle, light indicating their presence and history. Mars and Earth are visible. I have painted four Loyal Wingman drones with small dots to indicate their reliance on spectrum. Are the dots photons? Are they false stars? Whatever they are, maybe they create a false universe, a strange simulation? The dotted geolocating points in the landscape reference a marshalling of natural resources to conform to strategic needs. I remind readers that the EMS is a natural and universal resource, photons appearing in the nano-seconds after the Big Bang. 

I will leave you to ponder more. 

Cheers, Kathryn

P.S. Last Theatre of War post was Theatre of War: Spectrum Access  For other posts use the Search This Blog is available on the right side of this post. 

*Paul Virilio, “Red Alert in Cyberspace,” Radical Philosophy (Nov/Dec 1995): 2.

 

ARTIFICIAL TREES: PULLING THE FUTURE TOWARDS US

 Artificial Trees: Pulling the Future Towards Us Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

Read about my new painting below my recent news:

Recent News

A lot has happened in the last few weeks.

The four paintings I had hanging at the Australian Defence College (ADC), Canberra, as part of the College's launch of Arts@ADC are now home. I wrote about the ADC program two posts ago. You can read about it HERE. You can also read about it in an official Department of Defence article by Jess Spry Tacking Defence Issues Creatively. 

There is further news! I was very lucky to meet the Governor General of New Zealand, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy GNZM, QSO and His Excellency Sir David Gascoigne KNZM, CBE, when they visited the ADC. It was a great opportunity for COL Richard Barrett, Director of the ADC Centre for Leadership and Ethics and founder of Arts@ADC, plus being a sculptor, to speak about his sculptures and Arts@ADC. I was also able to speak about my paintings. Both the Governor General and her husband are keenly interested in the arts, so were a great audience for COL Barrett and me.

L - R Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox, COL Richard Barrett, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy GNZM, QSO and His Excellency Sir David Gascoigne KNZM, CBE and CDRE Peter Leavy. COL Barrett is talking about his two sculptures Redacted and Homo ex Machina. You can read about them in this Defence briefing Tackling Defence Issues Creatively  Photo: Lauren Larking Copyright: Commonwealth of Australia

L - R His Excellency Sir David Gascoigne KNZM, CBE, Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy GNZM, QSO and CDRE Peter Leavy. Photo: Lauren Larking Copyright: Commonwealth of Australia

I am also super pleased that my paintings have triggered questions and prompted more enquiries about engaging with my work and me. Shall keep you posted.

 

Artificial Trees: Pulling the Future Towards Us

This new painting relates to a previous painting called Not Waiting For The Future (2018) where I respond to the Chief of the Australian Army, Lt Gen Rick Burr's, 2018 Accelerated Warfare: Futures Statement For an Army in Motion. In the last paragraph he wrote We must pull the future towards us rather than wait for it;  

In my new painting I have included a cascading tree-of-life. The foreground depicts a swarm of Loyal Wingman drones* flying over what appears to be farmland planted with rows of some kind of 'crop'. Are the drones swarming 'pests'? However, these radiating lines are, in fact (?), geolocating graphics guiding the drones' flight paths. Fake or artificial trees sprout from this 'landscape'. These trees take on the appearance of computer chip-board circuitry, key enablers of contemporary technology. Three rectangles enclose yellow trees-of-life, indicating that life is being monitored, identified and possibly targeted by surveillance technology. Is another human even watching?

BUT, there appears to be some hope! A branch of the cascading tree-of-life seeks a new path - maybe?

The fake or artificial trees herald a future of technological speed and acceleration, where algorithms, machine learning and AI mediate human life in realms beyond human access. The Pale Blue Dot observes....

Collisions and Accidents?

If we think about Paul Virilio and his theories of speed and accidents - Collisions occur when speed cannot be controlled - what about a collision of the present with the future? 

____________________________________________________

* A previous post called Wingman might interest you. 

Update: the Wingman drone is now called the MQ-28 Ghost Bat. You can see more of the Wingman/Ghost Bat drones on my online exhibition  
WINGMAN (MQ-28 GHOST BAT): ONLINE EXHIBITION

Cheers,

Kathryn

VERIFIED LANDING SITE

Verified Landing Site Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

Verified Landing Site continues my interest in thinking about portraiture in an age of facial recognition technology. My last post ME: Portraiture in the Age of Facial Recognition details some of my thoughts - plus - there is a self-portrait - or is it?

In Verified Landing Site I have combined facial recognition-type computer graphics with  airport landing-type graphics. In this case the Loyal Wingman* drone, positioned in the middle of the blue 'iris', gives a clue to what kind of craft is landing. However, the idea of 'landing' is also a metaphor for landing on our subconscious.

Cheers,

Kathryn

*Previous Wingman post and painting. 

THEATRE OF WAR: SMART TEAM

Theatre of War: Smart Team Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

 

Theatre of War: Smart Team is number three of a Theatre of War series. I am not sure how many paintings there will ultimately be! You - and I - will just have to wait to see! 

Theatre of War
Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation

Loyal Wingman Combat Drones 
In Theatre of War: Smart Team I have painted three Loyal Wingman combat drones and a piloted/manned fighter jet. The Royal Australian Air Force and Boeing have collaborated to develop the Loyal Wingman drone, using Australian and international expertise. The drone is designed as a 'wingman' support for piloted/manned jet aircraft. The first test flights are, apparently, to occur in late 2020. The Loyal Wingman drone has been labelled a 'gamechanger' in military drone technology. Indeed, the weaponisable drone certainly will be equipped with a plethora of advanced capabilities that range from some autonomous systems utilising AI, swarming potential, advanced electronic and electromagnetic warfare technologies, payload flexibility enhanced by interchangeable nose cones and more. This drone represents the first Australian made aircraft for over 50 years.

The Loyal Wingman drone has been developed under Boeing's Airpower Teaming System: A Smart Unmanned Force Multiplier. 

Teams of piloted/manned aircraft and unmanned highly advanced combat drones will soon be deployed into our skies. And, these teams will be smart teams! 

You can read more about Australia's Loyal Wingman drone, plus some information about similar projects in the US and the UK, here at this article Behold Boeing's Loyal Wingman Drone for Australia-as it Rapidly Takes Shape in The Drive: The Warzone. 

Theatre of War: Smart Team 
In Theatre of War: Smart Team the aircraft are linked by painted red lines. These lines indicate signal-enabled teaming capabilities. Like any 'theatre' performance, teamwork is crucial to success. In this painting the red lines forming patterns that appear to dissect the landscape seem to suggest a stage, but is it structurally sound, is it complete, is it real? These red lines mimic terrain visualising technology that would normally be seen as a graphic on a screen. Maybe we, the audience, are actually observing something on a computer screen? Or, maybe the terrain visualisation is for the drones' scopic or geolocating requirements? If we see the painting as a theatre set, the team of aircraft hang like either a prop, or a performing protagonist. The red line stretching beyond the painting's edge can be read as a literal signal connection to a satellite or a ground control station, or it can be read as some kind of string, like a puppet's string. As a metaphor, a puppet's string, conjures some troubling thoughts about who or what is ultimately the theatre's 'director' - who or what is in control. 

Maybe we are not an audience at all, but also protagonists playing a variety of roles in the contemporary theatre of war?

                               ___________________________________________________

Can you pick the Loyal Wingman drones in Theatre of War and Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation below?

Theatre of War Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

          Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

As always, I could write more, but I will leave it here, for you to ponder.

Here is a link to a previous painting and post called Wingman

Cheers,

Kathryn