THEATRE OF WAR: DROMO-DOMAIN

 Theatre of War: Dromo-Domain Oil on linen 90 x 100 cm 2021

CLAUSEWITZ

I think this is my 14th or 15th Theatre of War painting. I was inspired to start this ever-growing series by late 18th/early 19th century Prussian General, Carl Von Clausewitz's famous tome On War. He often mentions the term 'theatre of war'. Reading through the text, I get the impression he thought it involved a number of factors, but geography was a central theme. 

I think about what 'theatre of war' might mean in the 21st century, the age of digital and cyber technology, drones, drone swarms, ubiquitous surveillance and increasingly autonomous systems. Regular readers will know I am probably a bit dystopian in my outlook. This is because I 'see' contemporary networked, interconnected and inter-operable technology as an homogenising and standardising force that enables the 'theatre of war' to extend not only beyond geography, but also traditional ideas of military activity and reach.* Because of the shared nature of technological platforms and systems I am particularly concerned about, and interested in, the militarise-ability of civilian technology. Here, increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum [EMS] as an enabler of technology, a type of fires, a manoeuvre space and a domain is a key concern. Why? Because civilian technology also relies upon access to the EMS. Information and cyber warfare, and terms such grey-zone and hybrid warfare, all 'speak' to permeable military-civilian boundaries. I am also interested in the militarisation of imagination, time and speed. So, you can see, my ideas of the contemporary 'theatre of war' encompass almost - maybe all of- everything!

DROMO - SPEED

Theatre of War: Dromo-Domain is a visual spin on Paul Virilio's thoughts on speed and the term he coined, dromology ie: the logic of speed applied to contemporary society. Virilio, in a number of books and articles*, argued and observed that speed and accelerating speeds of technological operation and development play major roles in societal, political and geopolitical stability. As developments in networked and interconnected digital and cyber technologies have accelerated, light-speed [or near light-speed] signal transmissions introduce speed as a necessary advantage for both civilian and military technology. It is commercially, politically and militarily tactical to use speed as an advantage. One of my favourite quotes from Virilio is  "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.” (1)

HOW TO VISUALISE SPEED

I have grappled with how to visually convey speed as an overarching dromo-domain that encompasses civilian and military technology in a pervasive and persistent 'theatre of war' that extends from Earth to orbiting satellites. 

In Theatre of War: Dromo-Domain I have repeatedly painted the symbol for light speed ie: c, to form a circle around the Earth. I love how the cs look like the spurs on a spinning cog, and that a sense of speed is created. The Earth is the 'pale blue dot'. This circle of cs represents the major satellite orbiting zones around the Earth. From these orbits to Earth, is our sphere of influence, where the EMS is harnessed for an array of communication, operative and inter-operative civilian and military technological functions. How are we managing this sphere of influence? I 'see' it as a volumetrically occupied and techno-colonised space. 

In Theatre of War: Dromo-Domain the multiple overlapping white circles are indicative of civilian and military activities and domains. Clearly the term dual-use is inadequate in the era of speed, where networking, interconnectivity and interoperability scaffold us all in invisible webs of signals. This is a militarised space - a dromo-domain that enables and cradles more traditional military domains of land, sea and air. It is the meta-domain.

IMAGINATIONAL METAVEILLANCE

The cosmic-like background in Theatre of War: Dromo-Domain continues my quest to stimulate flight, your flight and mine [in imagination], to places where we can gain new perspectives. I call this 'imaginational metaveillance' - a kind of veillance that does not rely on EMS-enabled technology, thus it is untethered from it. The cosmic landscape also alludes to universal history, which includes the history of the EMS. All frequencies in the EMS are made up of photons, traveling in waves at light speed. The photon appeared around 10 seconds after the Big Bang. This kind of cosmological history really gets me thinking about how, in our sphere of influence, are we using a natural universal resource. 

* Paul Virilio and Jean Baudrillard inform my ideas here.

Cheers,

Kathryn

PS. Related recent posts/paintings include:

Theatre of War: Plague Cloud
Theatre of War: Infrared

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

* Just a small few examples of Virilio's work

Paul Virilio, Speed and Politics, first published 1977.

Paul Virilio, The Original Accident, trans. Julie Rose (2007

Paul Virilio, The Great Accelerator, trans. Julie Rose (2012)

SCOPING NEW SKIES

Scoping New Skies Gouache and watercolour on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

THE SKY FALLS

Ubiquitous and persistent surveillance via visual and data monitoring creates a new layer of 'reality' whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Most people, however, are aware, albeit in varying degrees. People in Yemen, Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan are aware in an extreme way as they experience remotely piloted airborne drones that hover above their homes and territories. These drones provide surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence to other, mostly western authorities, in the name of activities such as counter-insurgency operations. These drones can also target and attack. In a way the sky falls in! 

People in the west are monitored and surveilled via their use of digital devices, their movements across the world caught on surveillance cameras, their cars tracked by GPS devices and so on. Perhaps, rather than a new sky it is a whole new world? If it a whole new world, it will have a sky of sorts...? But, maybe this new sky acts like a blanket, a mechanism of suffocation. After all virtual reality gives the impression of 3 dimensions, but this is an algorithmic instruction. Maybe the 'sky' really has fallen - into the reduction that lies between zeros and ones? Here it is sobering to think about a statement made in 1994 by cultural critic Paul Virilio, in an interview with visual artist Louise Wilson. 

These new technologies try to make virtual reality more powerful than actual reality, which is the true accident. The day when virtual reality becomes more powerful than reality will be the day of the big accident.(1)   

SCOPING NEW SKIES

Scoping New Skies plays with all the thoughts expressed in the above paragraphs and more. 

In the painting, the drone scopes using co-ordinates, multiple electro-optical and data collection devices. It is also equipped with Hellfire and guided missiles. The tree-of-life sits atop a planet, maybe Earth? The tree's roots seem protected by the arced dome-like shape of the planet, but...maybe its actually more interesting than that? Maybe the dome is a kind of cosmic protector - one that the drone's surveillance systems cannot penetrate or even detect? The cosmic sky is a reminder that there is a universal space beyond the drone-space, and the orbits of GPS and communications satellites currently used to support a drone's operation. 

And, there's more...

But, I'll leave it to you now!

1. Paul Virilio. Interview with Louise Wilson "Cyberwar, God and Television: Interview with Paul Virilio", C Theory, December 1, 1994.  

_______________________________________ 

Please check out another 'sky' post and painting NEW SKY 

Plus COMBAT PROVEN, LONG-RANGE and LONG-DWELL

And 

Please check out my last post A VISIT TO THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL 

Cheers,

Kathryn

BETWEEN EXISTENCES

 Between Existences Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Between-Time

Sometimes I feel the contemporary time in which we live is actually a 'between-time'. It's like humanity is on the edge of one kind of existence and another kind of existence. The thing is -what if  humanity is ultimately not part of this other kind of existence? But...it could be. I suggest it depends on how we navigate the contemporary space-time, the Antropocene. With my M. Phil research covering militarised technology, the development of autonomous weapons and current warfare and conflict, I am somewhat anxious about humanity's future. 

Lord Astronomer, cosmologist and one of the three founders of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk [University of Cambridge], Martin Rees, wrote a fascinating book Our Final Century  in 2003. It proposes a number of catastrophic events that could cause civilisation collapse or even the annihilation of the human species. These events are not necessarily naturally occurring ones. They include events that might ensue from human-made emerging technologies, - due to mistakes, accidents, getting into the hands of aberrant groups or individuals. 

However....

Between Existences [above] is a hopeful painting! The tree of life stands as a beacon in a cosmic landscape. The blue river-like mass could be the 21st century - a space between, a hiatus in human development, a touch-and-go period, a challenge. 

BUT, the tree has sent its roots deep into time...they even extend beyond the painting, digging deep. There's hope for root suckers - root sprouts to revitalise existence!  Yet, the blue river-like '21st century' also extends beyond the painting's edges. It also has root-like extensions...maybe they extend into other universes?  I'll let your imagination 'fly' now....

Trees-of-Life Vs The Drones Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Trees-of-Life Vs The Drones is similar to Between Existences in format - there is a top half and a bottom one too...a representation of a duality eg: humanity - technology, life - death, symbolism - fashion, reality - virtuality, time - space, civilian - military, war - peace. Yet, in this 'between time' of the 21st century dualities are blurred. Cultural theorist, Paul Virilio's commentary, on the accelerating speeds of technological interactivity provides avenues to help us understand this blurring. With time and distance collapsed into near light-speed connectivity, dualities disappear, become unnoticeable - creating an inertia. Philosopher, Gregorie Chamayou's proposal that remote targeting and killing makes the whole world a potential manhunting ground certainly illustrates the blurring [hey! eradication] of the lines between things. Anthropologist, Hugh Gusterson's ideas about 'remixed war', as a result of militarised technology distributed through global networks that allow remote control and killing, exemplifies the collapse of the civilian - military divide. There's more...but I'll leave you to explore.

In Trees-of-Life Vs The Drones the weaponised drones look like an early computer game, little icons marching forward. The trees-of-life stand firm, their branches acting as an alternative network, outside the digital network connecting the drones. Note that there are two trees! AND, their roots are not evident - but they are there! I know, because I am the artist!

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com