BEWARE, WHISPERS THE WIND

Beware, Whispers The Wind oil on linen 61 x 97 cm 

Beware, Whispers The Wind 

An armed Reaper drone creates a false horizon across a landscape. The drone's wings slice through the air. Its wide area surveillance system hangs like a bulbous probe below the aircraft's chassis. Four Hellfire missiles and two guided missiles are poised ready for release. 

Orienting graphics impose a virtual map under the drone. This map penetrates the landscape, its virtual presence indicating that it can operate anywhere, everywhere. From screen to screen, its data driven operation isolates kill zones as the drone's sensors harvest more data to facilitate full spectrum dominance.

The drone's sensors are invisibly connected by signals to enabling devices on land and in space. Operational signals instruct the harvesting of data from other networked devices; domestic, civilian and military. An invisible cartography of signals nets planet Earth with instructional codes operating outside human dimensions of space and time.  

With Beware, Whispers The Wind I wanted to play with the tension between reality and virtuality. The white drone and white lines mimic the appearance of computer graphics. Is the painting an image of a computer screen? Or, is the tumultuous and colourful landscape real?  The viewer could be facing the drone, on a screen, from another aircraft or maybe you are a bird? The viewer could also be looking down upon a drone that soars upwards, the orienting graphics creating a virtual abyss. Maybe the drone is coming into land, somewhere on a screen, on a tarmac or on our collective subconscious?

But, on a distant horizon the red tree-of-life stands as a beacon. As it leans to one side it shows us the presence of the wind. Does the wind exist in a virtual world? Is the tree-of-life and the wind sending us a message? 

What do you think?

                                                 NEWS

I am on a roundtable at the International Studies Association annual conference in Toronto. The roundtable will be discussing "Researching War Preparedness: Challenges, theories and inter/disciplinary possibilities". Wednesday 27th 8.15-10 am.

I am thrilled to be talking about my paintings where I suggest that signals represent a techno-colonisation of landscape from land, to sky, and into space! That these signals enable networking and interconnection  across civilian and military systems poses the question - are we in a perpetual state of war preparedness/readiness, for offensive and defensive activities? 

DETAILS 

Researching War Preparedness: Challenges, theories and inter/disciplinary possibilities

Participants:

• Chair: Mark J. Lacy (Lancaster University)
• Discussant: Maria Stern (University of Gothenburg)
• Discussant: Mark J. Lacy (Lancaster University)
• Participant: Christine Agius (Swinburne University)
• Participant: Helen Dexter (The University of Leicester)
• Participant: Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox  (University of Queensland)
• Participant: Victoria M Basham (Cardiff University )
• Participant: Hannah-Marie Chidwick (University of Bristol)
• Participant: Sara Matthews [Wilfrid Laurier] 

Abstract: 
This roundtable examines the possibilities and (interdisciplinary) prospects for advancing knowledge on war preparedness. In international relations and security studies, an overwhelming focus is on conflict and warfare, and while work on conflict prevention has a strong presence, war preparedness if often overlooked or only briefly addressed. War preparedness has been confined to military strategizing and predictive schemas and historicised too, with dominant associations focused on Cold War nuclear planning or civil defence during the Second World War. Preparing for war, however, is not solely an activity or ethos that is authored by state militaries. It requires the inculcation of citizens, public and private spaces and technologies, and is an ever-present part of everyday practices, images, discourses, and ideologies. Understanding war preparedness is vital for grasping how we theorise war and violence over time and space. Importantly, identifying how war preparedness is operationalised and rationalised requires critical engagement with dominant ideologies and material developments. This roundtable will explore the possibilities for theorising war preparedness and how interdisciplinary approaches may inform new approaches to understanding war preparedness and what this can also mean for peace.

Cheers,

Kathryn

DANGEROUS DIVERSIONS AND DISTRACTIONS

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

POLITICAL SHENANIGANS

This week's political turmoil in Canberra has left many Australians scratching their heads. I will not go into the politics - that would be a never ending Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole type trip! You can Google for more information! However, for foreign readers, briefly, a sitting Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has been ousted due to recalcitrant forces from within his own party, the Liberal Party. This is not the first time in recent history that this has happened, for either a sitting Liberal Prime Minister or a Labour Prime Minister. 

But, apart from the politics, what about the distraction these kinds of events cause - distraction from more important issues, the issues politicians should be paying attention to? And, there are many.

Here's one that concerns me.

ARMS RACE

Since becoming interested in the burgeoning research area of existential risk posed by emerging technologies, I have become increasingly concerned by political inattention to growing and potential threats posed by advances in technology, either designed for military purposes, or appropriated by defence forces, or aberrant state and non-state individuals or groups. Examples of new and emerging technologies with the potential - due to mal-intent, accident or unintended consequences - to cause major mayhem, civilisation collapse or human species demise are biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence. Combining or linking them could be a extremely worrying.*

Adding to the alarm is the apparent escalation in arms research and development utilising new and emerging technologies, including machine learning and artificial intelligence. There are many voices around the world who are concerned. Significantly, many of them are scientists. For example there are a number of AI researchers and developers, including,  Prof Toby Walsh,  Prof Stuart Russell and Prof Noel Sharkey, who are concerned about increasingly autonomous weapons ie: weaponry utilising machine learning and artificial intelligence. The Future of Life Institute, based out of MIT, has facilitated open letters clearly expressing that AI research and development must be for the benefit of humanity. These letters have been signed by thousands of scientists, philosophers, International Studies scholars and others. One letter is specifically targeted to address concerns about lethal autonomous weapons. I quote from this letter written in 2015 - three years ago, "If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow."

The idea of a twenty-first century arms race is very worrying. So, today I was pleased to see that an interview by David Aaronovitch with historian Yuval Noah Harari was published in this weekend's Weekend Australian Magazine*. I have read Harari's work, but not Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and 21 lessons for the 21st Century. These are on my list! In the interview Harari makes it clear that national political intrigues divert attention away from globally significant issues, such as potential outcomes of emerging technologies. Three years after the Future of Life open letter, here's a sobering quote from Harari, 

    "But in 2018, we are already in a very serious arms race. The Chinese realised it, I think, three 

     or four years ago; the Europeans are realising it now. But the world is in an arms race, and this 

     is terrible news because you cannot regulate this explosive technology if you are in an arms race."

It is ironic that Harari's interview appeared in the Weekend Australian Magazine, the weekend after a week of befuddling political shenanigans that clearly diverted attention away from proper government. It is likely that this coming week will be overshadowed by post-mortem examinations of the last week, intrigues about a new ministry, and what might happen to the so-called 'insurgents' within the Liberal Party. More diversions! Meanwhile, Australia, like the rest of the world, faces repercussions from extremely important issues relating to globally significant and accelerating developments in militarised and militarise-able technology. I have previously written about Australia and a global arms race. Please read my post DRONES AND CODE: FUTURE NOW The title of the post is also the title of a painting.

BACKGROUND

I have a long term interest in existential risk posed by emerging technologies research. This interest was focused on 2015 in research I undertook for a research Masters degree, an M. Phil, at the University of Queensland. Part of my research included examinations of contemporary militarised technology, including, unmanned drone technology, night vision technology, pervasive surveillance capabilities and autonomy in systems. While I was researching I became aware of how fast developments in militarised technology were accelerating. I also became aware that, as the months ticked by, more and more countries were either developing new technology or purchasing it.  And, I also became more aware of the increasing militarise-ability of civilian technology. An arms race, twenty-first century style, is not a fantasy!  

Trees of Life Vs The Drones (above)

This painting depicts a swarm of drones threatening two trees, trees-of-life. The drones represent 21st century militarised technology - unmanned, weaponised, and potentially equipped with some autonomous systems. The drones seem to 'march on' relentlessly! But, let's not give up, the trees-of-life declare! 

Our Bright Future (below)

The contours of the continent of Australia are formed by binary code repeating/instructing AUSTRALIA.  This painting was inspired by watching Kevin Slavin's fabulous TED talk How Algorithms Shape Our World. At one point he says "It's a bright future if you're an algorithm."

Really?

  

Our Bright Future Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

* Check out the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, The University of Cambridge. 

* Weekend Australian Magazine: if you have an account you can access the interview online.

Cheers,
Kathryn

NEW TERRAIN

The New Terrain Gouache o paper 56 x 76 cm 2018

As I have previously mentioned, I am interested in making visible the invisible signals that enable contemporary technological inter-connectivity. I 'see' signals wrapping the planet, extending into the sky and into space. Signals enable the operation of designated militarised technology, dual-use civilian/military technology and the appropriative capabilities of state and non-state entities, aberrant groups or individuals. Regarding the latter, think of election interference, cybercrime and so on.

SIGNALSCAPE

In my view signals that ricochet around the world, from land-based, sky based and space based nodes, create a new type of landscape - a signalscape. This signalscape is an invisible colonising force that forms a dense net that volumetrically occupies the biosphere and extends to space-based assets in low Earth orbit and geostationary orbit. 

This net is not a neutral force, as it represents a persistent readiness for action which includes a  constant readiness for offensive and defensive activities. In other words we live in a world that is constantly ready for war, twenty-first century style. Seen this way the invisible signalscape holds us hostage. I wrote about this in a recent post called HOSTAGE.

THE NEW TERRAIN

In The New Terrain I have made visible a section of the new signalscape. It appears to be glimpsed between clouds. However, the clouds may be a ruse. Taking the nomenclature of The Cloud maybe the netting is too small for us to see, hence the cloudy appearance? Maybe the area I have exposed is closer to the viewer, just one layer if the volumetric occupation? 

As with many of my paintings, the viewer could be above the new occupying signalscape. Maybe you are beyond the busy orbits of enabling satellites? However, you could be on land looking up and through the signalscape, its layered nets wrapping around you, even stroking you as you move in your environment - unaware of your hostage situation.

I have deliberately used the word 'terrain' in the title for two main reasons. The first is that it is linked to ideas of landscape and landscape features, and secondly it has military potential.

Cheers,

Kathryn

PERSISTENT READINESS...

21st Century Cloud Fantasy Oil on canvas 76 x 76 cm 2017 

The Cloud is a term used for the storage of data on remote servers housed in bricks and mortar buildings. The data is delivered and accessed via the internet. The Cloud is not a vapourous fantastical storage system. Rather, it consists of physical structures that have enormous energy needs to power servers and to keep ambient environments cool enough for their maximal operation. In his 2015 book A Prehistory of the Cloud Tung-Hui Hu describes The Cloud as a 'cultural fantasy'. (1) He also notes that cloud computing is a 'way of turning millions of computers and networks into a single, extremely abstract idea: “the cloud.”'(2)  Hu argues that The Cloud builds on older ways to wield power, and therefore militarising precedents are inherent in systems now dominated by speed and ubiquitous inter-connectivity. I highly recommend Hu's book to you.

The 'take-out' here is inter-connectivity, deployed through physical cabling, or wireless transmission ie: signals travelling via subterranean,undersea and sometimes above ground conduits, as well as via radio frequencies/waves on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Regular readers will know of my interest in revealing signals that ricochet around the world, between nodes positioned on land, in the sky and in space. I 'see' these signals as occupiers, even colonisers, of a volumetric environment extending from Earth, into the biosphere and beyond to geostationary and low Earth orbit.* In this way signals create new netted and potentially dense topographies across and in the landscape. I am particularly interested in how the increasingly dual-use nature of interconnected digital and cyber systems predisposes landscape, new and old, to processes of militarisation.

One aspect of this militarisation is that interconnected systems allow for a constant state of readiness for offensive and defensive activities, in other words, readiness for war. Things like the manipulation of elections, cyber attacks and the generation of fake news could be considered characteristics of 21st century war - maybe not outright war - but certainly barbed provocations. If we live in an era of ever-readiness for war, does that make us hostages? Do cultural fantasies obscure grim realities? These topics are for another post.

1. Tung Hui-Hu, A Prehistory of the Cloud ,Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2015, XXIV.
2. Ibid., XXVI.

* I have written about the occupation of landscape by signals quite a lot. Here is a link toe a recent post Occupied Landscape: Everywhere

**I thank Dr. Christine Agius, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia for stimulating my thoughts about how my work might reveal invisible aspects of an ever-present readiness for war. Hopefully, we will be building on the topic in the future - shall keep you posted!

 Fake Tree Oil on linen 25 x 35 cm 2017

THE PAINTINGS
The paintings I have included in this post each 'speak' to aspects of ever-readiness for war. 21st Century Cloud Fantasy [top] positions the pale blue dot, aka Earth, a the center of radiating lines and funneling night vision green clouds. Here, I am playing with ideas of ubiquitous surveillance...and more. In Fake Tree the tree's shadow is not real, and binary code 'instructing' FAKE TREE forms a fake horizon. Cloud Storage plays on the fantasy of digital vapour! And, Persistent Situational Awareness draws attention to always being aware of where you are, especially in tumultuous times, especially if you are a hostage.

 Cloud Storage Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Persistent Situational Awareness Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm 2017

Cheers,
Kathryn

BRISBANE - SAN FRANCISCO - NY - LONDON - CAMBRIDGE - HK

Presenting my talk at the international Studies Association annual conference in San Francisco. 

I have just returned from my month long trip from Brisbane, to San Francisco, to new York, to Cambridge and London and home via Hong Kong. I did not post while I was away - the first time I have missed even one week, let alone four, in nearly twelve years!

ISA

Happy to report that my presentation at the International Studies Association annual conference, San Francisco, was received very well. I was asked to speak about my paintings - my dronescapes - how they resist the insidious [and no so insidious] infiltration of militaristion into everyday life, imagination and the future.  

This conference was a massive one. Every session I went to was stimulating. An array of different topics, approaches, and people from around the world. 

GOLDSMITHS

Happy to also report that my presentation at Goldsmiths, University of London, was also well received. Dr. Claire Reddleman and Dr. Elke Schwartz also spoke. I was asked to speak about my work in reference to issues relating to new landscapes/topographies and drone vision. 

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF EXISTENTIAL RISK, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

A highlight of the trip was attending the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge, annual conference. This was a small conference and I was delighted to be invited to attend. It was two days of fascinating presentations and participatory workshops. The focus was on thinking about strategies to help inform the broader community, policy makers, governments and corporations about existential risk ie: often considered low probability, but high impact events that could cause human species demise or civilisation collapse. Regular readers will know why I was so pleased to attend this conference - I have been interested in existential risk posed by emerging technologies for many years. Ideas associated with existential risk have informed both my creative practice and academic research.

                            

Presenting my talk at the international Studies Association annual conference in San Francisco. 

Presenting at Goldsmiths, University of London

TALKS

In both my talks I questioned the term vision and its application to a machine. I asked, are we relinquishing human vision before we understand the ramifications of doing so? I couched this in reference to vision as an expansive human capacity ie: not only seeing with eye-ball and pupil, but also with our mind's eye/imagination, in dreams and visionary thinking. I argued that a drone cannot dream nor imagine, rather a drone's imaging technology gives it scoping capabilities, not vision capabilities. Are we exposing ourselves to risk by ascribing human capabilities to drones [and other machines, no matter how advanced they are]? 

My way of countering this reduction of vision is to invite people to 'fly' around the drones, or indications of their presence, in my paintings. The cosmic perspective allows for some considerable soaring! Thus, human vision, in all its capacities, is turned back upon the drones........a radical surveillance. 

The poster advertising the talk at Goldsmiths, University of London

  

 View out the window at a workshop for the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge. Jesus College courtyard.

The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk conference dinner at Jesus College, Cambridge. 

FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE

There were many high points during the trip. One was visiting Forensic Architecture's exhibition Counter Investigations at the Institute of Contemporary Art [ICA], London. I used some of Forensic Architecture's ideas in my M. Phil thesis, particularly in my visual analysis of, Australian artist, Jon Cattapan's paintings. Their Lexicon was very useful for a variety of reasons. So, I was very keen to see Forensic Archicture's work at the ICA. I spent hours at the exhibition. A few days after seeing the show, Forensic Architecture was nominated for the Turner Prize. 

Forensic Architecture is a research group at Goldsmiths, University of London. They investigate sites of atrocity, war crimes, human rights violations and more. They gather a plethora of evidentiary material, which they then piece together. This evidence is presented in layered visual formats, often further overlaid with audio material. Comparative analyses of sounds, photographs, shapes in imagery, timelines, satellite imagery, trajectories of bullets, and more, are provided by computer generated tools presented as visual graphics that provide another visual layer. The outcome is a reconstruction of a site or an event - relived, but also explained. Forensic Architecture's work is complex and compelling, visually/aesthetically, and as evidence. This evidence is used in legal and human rights arenas. Additionally the group exhibits their work in art exhibitions. The bridging between seemingly different worlds is extraordinary. For me, their Lexicon  provides clues to this success. It demonstrates creative thought and the depth of their research - and - thus, the precision of their evidence. As art, it is meaningful.

 Me at Forensic Architecture's exhibition Counter Investigations at the ICA, London.

I will write more about the trip in my next post: 

• The ballet Manon at the Royal Opera House, London.
• Visiting Bletchley, the secret WW 2 code breaking site half an hour out of London. 
• Visiting the Intrepid Air and Space Museum, New York.
• The Imperial War Museum, London, and the special exhibition Art in the Age of Terror
• Revisiting the National Gallery, London
• Revisiting the marvelous Frick Museum, New York
• And More!

Cheers,
Kathryn

A VISIT TO THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

The Australian War Memorial December 21, 2016. The Last Post ceremony is performed each afternoon. I was there for the commemoration for Norman Leslie Oliver, who died from wounds sustained during World War 1.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
I've been to Canberra, Australia's capitol city, to visit the Australian War Memorial. I was there to do some research for my M. Phil studies at the University of Queensland. After meeting curatorial staff to see some of the paintings, currently held in storage, by the artists I am researching ie: George Gittoes and Jon Cattapan, I spent time in the Commemorative Courtyard/Roll of Honour and a long time looking at the Memorial's extensive collections. These collections encompass an array of material from various wars and conflicts Australia has been involved with. This includes Australia's most recent involvement in the Middle East. It also includes special mention of peacekeeping activities in various places over decades. Display items include newspaper clippings, old film footage, photographs, items collected by soldiers, actual weapons, actual aircraft, maps, simulations of battles, recordings, paintings, sculptures, medals, dioramas, and so much more - including a surveillance drone!

I spent all day on the 21st  December at the War Memorial - I  had to be asked to leave at 5 pm - I had lost track of time. I was inside a simulation at the time. It was a World War 2 bomber and the floor of the 'aircraft' was actually vibrating. The all-round sound was so effective it took the woman, asking me to leave, some time to get my attention!

Given my M. Phil research approach I was particularly interested in exhibits and commentary on militarised technology, both pre and post digital/cyber.

German Enigma - Code Machine - Spook hardware.

Australian War Memorial 

FOR COUNTRY, FOR NATION
This exhibition is a MUST SEE

"For Country, for Nation is thematic in structure. Within each theme are stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience during wartime and peace." 

I hope  For Country, For Nation  gets to tour around Australia. This exhibition is meaningful in many ways. It includes old photographs, memorabilia, commentary from current Indigenous service men and women, Elder commentary and artistic reflections by contemporary Indigenous artists. It is not a permanent show, but I was told it will be up well into 2017. 

Please visit the War Memorial's webpage for For Country, For Nation . Also, the Memorial's page Indigenous Service i Australia's Armed Forces in Peace and War - Overview 


SCANEAGLE DRONE
Of particular interest to me - regular readers will not be surprised - was the smallish surveillance ScanEagle drone suspended from the ceiling in the Middle East Display . This is a new display opened in October 2016.  There is also a photograph, attached to an nearby wall, of one of these drones being catapulted into the air by soldiers. The photograph is accompanied by didactic information which explains Australian use of airborne drone surveillance technology in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Exhibition Didactic Australian War Memorial 

The Heron drone mentioned in the War Memorial's didactic information [image above] is an Israeli made drone which has been used by Australian forces for surveillance purposes. You can read more about Australian drone operation at the Royal Australian Air Force "Technology" pages HERE .

Look up, there's a drone! The 'figure' in the glass cabinet 'wears' bomb proofing gear.

Australian War Memorial 

I think some people would miss seeing the drone as the exhibit is quite crowded, housed in a small space and the drone hangs quite close to the ceiling. However, if you do notice it... it does provide a good opportunity to view the underside of the drone [Photo Below]. I could not get the whole of the drone's underbelly in my photograph as I only had my iPad turned onto 'Selfie' mode.

Underbelly of a surveillance drone - Australian War Memorial

AIR CAPABILITY - THE FUTURE?
The Memorial's Anzac Hall extension houses an array of air and maritime exhibits, including actual aircraft, moving images, etc. The Aircraft Hall  exhibits planes, photographs and other memorabilia. 

I could not help wonder how the airborne drone will feature in the future, not only at the Australian War Memorial, but in other museums and memorials around the world. 

Will Reaper, Predator, Gray Eagle and other drones, with their array of surveillance and weapon's technology, be included in exhibits dedicated to the history of aircraft or will they be included in exhibits dedicated to surveillance, military technology, weapons or...? Or, will there be "Unmanned Systems" exhibitions? 

Given the debates about unmanned systems and increasingly autonomous systems*, questions will need to be asked about remote killing, increasing asymmetry in combatant capabilities, terrorist tactics, increasing dual-use nature of cyber connectivity, civilian deaths and more. These questions will influence the way 21st century militarised technology and its effects will be exhibited. 

*The UN has agreed to tackle the issue of autonomous weapons in 2017.

SURVEILLANCE
Military airborne photographic surveillance has a long history. The photo below describes early aerial photography during World War 1. This didactic information was included in an interactive large-scale map of Gallipoli [Turkey] and surrounds. The original photographs, taken during the war, have been montaged together to form a very large interactive topographical map. Visitors to the War Memorial can access information by touching points on the large screen. Of course these early airborne surveillance activities were manned - and - in open cockpits! Very different to contemporary remotely piloted long range, long dwell systems with wide area surveillance capabilities, that currently rely on GPS and communications satellites.  

The contrast between the World War 1 surveillance exhibit and the airborne surveillance ScanEagle drone got me thinking [again]...what will militarised technology bring in the next 100 years? Considering the accelerating pace of technological development I'm not sure we can even imagine what it will be like. And, then again, there's the question astronomer and cosmologist Martin Rees raises in his early 2003/4 book Our Final Century    - will humanity survive the 21st century? Indeed, will militarised technology, by mistake, accident or in the hands of aberrant groups, lead to humanity's demise?

World War 1 exhibit: Aerial photographs of Gallipoli and surrounds.

Australian War Memorial 

ROLL OF HONOUR

The Australian War Memorial achieves a balanced approach to how it memorialises war and conflict. The gravitas of war's companion - death - is pervasive. And, it's not just about Australian deaths, but also casualties, military and civilian, on all sides. It is very sad.

The gravitas of death - regarding Australian troops - is solemnly felt when walking along the Roll of Honour. This long list of the names of the fallen runs around the two sides of the Commemorative Courtyard. Name after name, after name, after name - of young men and women who have been killed in war and conflict situations.

My paternal grandfather's older brother Louis Hugh Brimblecombe died in France at age 22, from gunshot wounds to his back. He enlisted in July 1917 and died August 1918. It was strange, but as I walked along the Roll of Honour his name jumped out at me. He is buried at Crouy British Cemetery, Crouy-Sur-Somme, France. 

My grandfather Wilfred John Brimblecombe CBE [1898 - 1973] did survive the war. He enlisted as a private in 1915 [age 17] and returned home as a Sargent [age 21] in 1919. He was initially in the 6th Lighthorse, but was transferred to the 2nd Lighthorse Machine Gun Squadron. He spent the war in the Middle East. On returning to Australia he and another brother farmed a large block of rich black-soil on the Pirrinuan plain between Dalby and Jimbour, Queensland, Australia. My grandfather was politically active, particularly in agri-politics, and became the Federal member for Maranoa [nearly 732,000 sq kilometers] in the House of Representatives in 1951, during Sir Robert Menzies second stint as Prime Minister. He retired in 1966.   

Louis Hugh Brimblecombe and other young lives lost during World War 1. 

THOUGHT PROVOKING

There is no way I could say a visit to the Australian War Memorial is enjoyable, in the sense of joy and laughter...thank goodness. Rather, it is a riveting, moving, sad, educational and thought provoking experience. 

Reading some of the didactic information about the fate of people in war and conflict situations is harrowing. Seeing re-enactments on film...I cannot watch them for very long. Old footage of Lighthorsemen atop their horses made me wonder if my grandfather was one of the soldiers. The Last Post, which is played each afternoon at the Last Post Ceremony  in the War Memorial's Commemorative Courtyard leaves you with a sense of sadness for all involved - for humanity.

My visit to the War Memorial has made me wonder even more about the future. Regular readers know that in many of my own paintings I have been juxtaposing the age-old transcultural/religious symbol of the tree-of-life with the military airborne drone to question humanity's fate in an era of accelerating technological development. Places like the Australian War Memorial attend to the past where humanity remains central - in loss, life and death, participation, invention, survival. What will the future bring? And, how can places like the War Memorial provoke questions that probe the future?

New Sky Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 75.6 cm 2016

Persistent Surveillance and Strike Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Combat Proven, Long-Range, Long-Dwell Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 75.6 cm 2016

Cheers,

Kathryn