LIFE AND THE DRONE

Life and the Drone Gouache and watercolour n paper 56 x 76.5 cm 2016

PRECIPICE?

Have you noticed that the world seems to be on a precipice? Political instability, seemingly endless war and conflict in parts of the world, climate change [with the debates about whether it is real or not distracting from actual issues], financial and economic volatility, left and right divides becoming more extreme...and so on...all add up to a deep global anxiety. Advances in technology do not seem to help alleviate the anxiety! In fact, new anxieties about privacy and surveillance pervade as we increasingly use and rely on the internet, and other digital technologies, for a variety of daily and ongoing services and functions. 

MILITARISED TECHNOLOGY

As a result of my current research into militarised technology [as part of my M. Phil at the University of Queensland] I am concerned about research and development in weaponry, and military technology and systems infrastructure . These include advances in autonomy, where the human is minimally involved in the decision making loop or potentially completely out of the loop. The human would be replaced by advanced artificial intelligence with decision making and information gathering capabilities that could also include self-learning attributes. These kinds of weapons are called 'lethal autonomous weapons' [LAWs]. This problematic area is summed up in a recent article The Problem of Defining Autonomous Weapons by Ariel Conn on the Future of Life Institute website. You can find a lot of information on this site. 

THE DRONE

The figure of the military drone is symbolic of  our current era's dilemma. Currently operated by remote pilots, drones are used by various governments including the USA and UK for surveillance, targeting and attack purposes, in declared battlefields and counter-insurgency situations, in various regions of the world, including Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.  The The Bureau of Investigative Journalism  can provide you with a starting point for more research.  The Australian Air Force provided drone surveillance support in Afghanistan, withdrawing in 2014.

Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs], certainly have positive civilian uses such as surveillance and targeted assistance in disaster situations such as fire and flood etc. However, I propose, that the dual-use ie: civilian/military capabilities of drone technology [whether air, land or sea based] muddies the seriousness of projected developments in military use of drone technology that is combined with increasing levels of autonomy. Additionally, as Martin Reese speculated in his fantastic and provocative book Our Final Century [2004] how do we ensure that technologies such as these do not get into the hands of aberrant individuals or groups? The answer seems to be...to stay one step ahead. Is that, in itself, a pathway to destruction? Or as Reese might postulate a pathway to human species extinction?

LIFE and the DRONE

In this painting I wanted to show/reveal two types of branching systems: that of the tree-of-life and that of a drone's scoping capabilities designed for surveillance, targeting and attack. The tree's branches represent life's systems - life supporting systems such as vascular ones, river systems and energy forces beyond Earth and perception. The drone's branching scoping signals represent technology. Are we replacing life with a simulation of life? If so, does the simulation make it deceptively 'easier' to develop weapons operated by artificial intelligence? 

There are a myriad of questions to be asked and I wonder how the arts can be involved in the questioning? I know I am trying....

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I remind the reader that I am not a technophobe - I grew up in a house full of gadgets and gizmos - my father was a very serious HAM Radio enthusiast who, as a teenager, tracked Sputnik 1, made our first television in the early 60s on the dining room table and so on. You can read more about my childhood surrounded by technology HERE

Cheers,

Kathryn

P.S. Please check out my latest e-newsletter Studio News and Christmas Greetings

$URVEILLANCE

$urveillance Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76.5 cm 2016

$$$$$

Surveillance is big business - the collection, storage, evaluating and packaging of data; developing and implementing surveillance systems of all kinds; developing and implementing security systems to thwart surveillance by known or unknown infiltrators; ensuring the delivery of cyber updates for ongoing security...and more.

The use of GPS and communications space assets [satellites] to enable civilian and military surveillance draws attention to the dual-use nature of contemporary technology. Regular readers will know of my interest in airborne drones used by the military for surveillance, targeting and attack purposes. Drone operations currently rely on both GPS and communications satellites. [Check out many of my recent posts for more on drones.]

$URVEILLANCE

In this large work on paper I have painted small $ signs to create emanating surveillance signals. I have done this to contest ideas of value. The 'value' flow goes up and down or from one place to another, demonstrating the financial gains delivered to the developers and operators of surveillance technology AND the 'value', to governments, advertisers, the military and others [malign and benign], of the collected data. Technology to collect data is like a 'data harvester' - the harvester collects the 'golden grain'. Yes, I am a farmer's daughter!

The small $ sign-signals could represent proxy rays of 'sunshine' - the new 'sun' in our new 'sky' of surveillance sensors! Yet, they could also represent the perspective of a 'ploughed' field - of data. Or, perhaps 'landing' lights on a 'runway' of data! The electromagnetic spectrum is the new techno-empire frontier!

The 'play' with perspective is a deliberate ploy - one I employ often in my work. The 'landscape' is undetermined and the viewer's orientation is also. Are you above, below, in front, or all simultaneously? 

Be aware!

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

HUMANMACHINEHUMAN

HumanMachineHuman Gouache and water colour on paper 57 x 75.6 cm 2016

HUMANITY AND TECHNOLOGY

I am really interested in the intersection between humanity and technology. It's an intersection which is increasingly blurred.

I am particularly interested in human/technology relationships and developments in militarised technology, where guiding principles are focused on developing and maintaining supreme advantage over enemy forces. Modern soldiers are equipped with various devices that connect to other remote devices. These devices detect external events and environmental conditions, as well as monitor soldiers' physical well being. Soldiers are walking, talking, breathing nodes of information and detection. Technical apparatus to enable a soldier to survive extreme conditions and situations, without losing tactical advantage continue to be developed, using a plethora of modern technologies. Robot soldiers that can carry great weights or can be deployed in precarious situations have been developed eg: DARPA's Legged Squad Support System.  The remote drone pilot, in a sense, has an external appendage that responds to his/her movements and instructions. If you'd like to read more about military developments in these areas visit various defence force science and research agencies. You can do the research! There's plenty of information out there. It's both fascinating and scary. 

HUMANMACHINEHUMAN

So, HumanMachineHuman does not depict a morphed transhuman soldier...for me this would be too illustrative and therefore, restricted. Rather, I prefer a play with symbols. I have painted a tree-of-life with cascading branches that morph into three weaponsied drones, as if they are extensions of humanity/life. The drones' scoping systems provide a new type of branching appearance...not quite as complex as that of the tree-of-life though - for now!

Two smaller trees-of-life, positioned at the bottom left of the painting, are slightly beyond the drones' scopes. Is 'capture' immanent? Maybe - maybe not? I'd suggest the white root-like system, that mirrors the red tree, offers some hope of escape. Maybe the small red tree has camouflaged itself to avoid detection? Maybe its colour - red - indicates that it has its own counter-surveillance systems? Maybe it acts as a jamming system, thwarting the drones' collaborative success? The white root-like upside down tree is like a lighthouse shedding light into the dark. Maybe it is seeking a new way, a new universe even? The collaboration between the small red and white trees is significant!

You, the viewer - are you in front of a landscape or are you below the drones looking up, or are you above the drones looking down? Whatever your perspective, it might be a good idea to pay attention! 

This painting is another of my cosmic landscapes, another 'dronescape' or possibly a droned 'skyscape', or a droned 'aerialscape'? It could also be a droned 'dreamscape'? Yes, I do have some fun thinking about these sorts of things.

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

NEW SKY?

New Sky? Gouache on paper 57 x 76.5 cm 2016

TECH AND THE SKY

New Sky? continues my exploration of the relationship between technology and how we might perceive and understand the sky, consciously and subconsciously, in the 21st century. In an earlier post I contemplated how the sky is now a contested place where surveillance and targeting by weaponised drones limits the freedoms and lives of those who live below them. This limitation is about literal life and death. It is about fearing the sky and what it might deliver.

In this painting,New Sky?, the viewer is unsure whether they are above or below the three weaponised drones. This ambiguity in perspective is a deliberate ploy, one that I have 'played' with for many years in many different paintings...regular readers know.... 

TREES-OF-LIFE

The trees-of-life, some upright and some upside down, enhance the ambiguous perspective. Are we looking up into a cosmic sky, the Universe opened up? Or, are we looking down upon a landscape where life, in many cases, is turned 'upside down'...destroyed?

 What does it mean if the transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol is turned upside down? This question is bigger than me! I know I painted upside down trees-of-life, AND I felt compelled to do so, in this painting and others, but I leave it to you to find your own answers. 

BLUE DRONES

I have painted the drones in shades of blue to suggest their contribution to the 'new sky'. But, the geometric patterning deliberately hints at the artificiality of their sky impressions or camouflage. The geometric patterning becomes synonymous with pixels and virtual reality, algorithms and digital image making. In this way I have channeled the ubiquity of connectivity...the connectivity that contemporary surveillance relies upon. Our devices, personal, work related and incidental, are data suppliers, nodes of information, points of digital reference, markers of behaviour...all of these and more, provide fodder for data collection and analysis ie: metadata. This is used by advertisers, governments, the military and...

But, is it real? Again, you can seek your own answers. 

RED

The Hellfire and guided missile weapons on the Reaper drones in New Sky? are red, the same colour as the trees-of-life. The colour red is fervent, vital, energised. 

The fact that I have painted both the trees-of-life and the weapons red can be interpreted as a bad thing, but it could also be read as a good thing. It depends on which entity you think has the most power - LIFE or the weapons?

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

HELLO POSTHUMANITY?

Hello Posthumanity? Oil on linen 70 x 100 cm 2016

POSTHUMAN?

Hello Posthumanity? relates to some works on paper I did last year and earlier this year [see below]. In these paintings I used binary code, the tree-of-life and words, painted in cosmic environments, to grapple with the meaning of 'posthuman'. I have, however, bypassed the idea that it means a kind of re-calibration of human identity as a result of technology. Rather, I plummet straight into it being a state or place that exists after the annihilation of the human species...possibly due to emerging technologies. Here, the 'post' in posthuman literally means after-human-species-existence. Yes, somewhat different to a re-calibration. 

WHAT DOES POSTHUMAN LOOK LIKE?

So, what would this posthuman world look like? Would there ever be a chance of human revival, resurrection? Does God have a say? If we exist in a multiverse, would humans survive in other universes, if they exist there at all? Or, is the multiverse a parallel system, so that when something is extinct in one universe, it is also extinct in another universe? Even if humans were annihilated by misuse of technology, deliberate mal-use, accident or by machine design, would the ultimate demise of the Sun and the resultant destruction of the solar system, return us to the stars? Would this be a posthuman existence that is still 'human'? Would a posthuman world be one where humanity's digital residue remained long after mortal extinction? Would a posthuman world be one where artificial intelligence reigned...an AI that surpassed human intelligence in ways that were so far in advance that any connection to human intelligence was lost?

Regular readers will know that much of my most recent work is involved with landscape, weaponised airborne drones, cosmic perspectives and the figure of the tree-of-life representing LIFE threatened by accelerating developments in militarised technology. Yes, there is an undercurrent that connects these works with my interest in the posthuman.

HELLO POSTHUMANITY?

Hello Posthumanity? combines the tree-of-life, with binary code 'instructing' various words that I have also painted. The portal from which ribbons of colour emanate could indicate journeys into and from another universe? Maybe the trees-of-life are bits of 'human' star dust scattered across space? Maybe the binary code indicates digital residue? And, what about God? Well...your guess is as good as mine!

HOPE

I cannot help myself...but...this painting positions hope as a strong force. Hope is there - in the trees-of-life, in the the portal where the distances of time and space are retained, in the ribbons of colour indicating vibrancy...and...in the number of question marks, both '?' and '00111111'.

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

 Picturing the Posthuman gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2015 

 I Am Am I? Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2015 

 Imagining the Posthuman Gouache on paper 42 x 30 cm 2016

Vascular System for Posthumans Gouache on paper 42 x 30 cm 2016

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 

FRAGMENTED & UNDERGROUND: DRONESCAPES

The Tree-of-Life Sends its Energy Underground Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

TREE-OF-LIFE & DRONES

Here, I have two paintings where the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life stands as a beacon in landscapes that are threatened. Indeed, life is threatened. Unmanned air vehicles [UAVs] or drones loiter in dark skies. These Reaper drones are each armed with four hellfire missiles and two guided missiles.

My last post talked about the sky becoming a contested place...a place where surveillance and attack threats from above create an artificial sky. It is a sky to be feared...one where distance has collapsed and access to the beauty of cosmological perspectives is obscured. Here, in this post I offer the tree-of-life as a symbol of hope. It is a symbol which is shared by many cultures and religions, including the three Abrahamaic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Now, that's something to think about!

The tree-of-life can connect to hearts and minds. I experienced its powerful ability to connect when I had an exhibition at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Centre, [UAE] in 2006*. People from all over the region came to see the show. On a daily basis I had the most incredible conversations - all triggered by my paintings, particularly those that depicted the tree-of-life. These conversation I call 'agenda-less, but not directionless'. 

I suggest the power of age-old symbols is still fervent but, especially in the West, we have lost our connections to them. We prefer the transience of  fads and fashion delivered via gadgets and gizmos...at our peril!

In these two paintings, The Tree-of-Life Sends Its Energy Underground and Fragmented, the trees-of-life, representing all life, are vulnerable to attack. The drones certainly seem to be targeting them. Yet, the trees have scattered their seeds, sap and embedded their roots across the landscape. Potential new trees hibernate in wait, laying dormant until it is safe. The landscapes seem ripe, fiery and fertile, ready to re-charge. Yet... do these paintings offer alternative views? Indeed, the trees could be 'wounded', close to death, their 'blood' seeping into the landscape. Maybe? 

Do these paintings herald catastrophe or do they herald hope? 

Fragmented Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

* I have previously written about my Abu Dhabi experience: Here are two posts:

AGENDA-LESS BUT NOT DIRECTIONLESS

DIPLOMACY

REDLAND ART AWARD

This LINK takes you to a page where you can see pictures of all the finalist paintings, including mine Where There's Life There's...

Cheers,

Kathryn

RAINBOW CAMOUFLAGE & DRONE CLOUDS

Rainbow Camouflage Gouache on paper 30 x 42cm 2016

NEWS

Firstly news - my entry Where There's Life There's... was chosen as a finalist in the $15,000 Redland Art Award. It is amongst some other terrific work. The opening and the announcement of winners was a few days ago. Congratulations to the winner, Pollyxenai Joannou. 

CLOUDS AND RAINBOWS

Rainbow Camouflage and Drone Clouds both refer to natural phenomena we see in the sky: clouds and rainbows. They also refer to the figure of the drone, a human-made 'phenomena'. I am really interested in how the figure of the drone is changing, and will continue to change, human perceptions of the sky and landscape. The figure of the drone literally represents unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). It also symbolises pervasive surveillance of our physical and digital actions and activities. For those who live in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other conflict places, the sky has become something to fear. Why? Because, drones loiter - watching - tracking - attacking. 

RAINBOW CAMOUFLAGE

The posse of drones each painted with a colour from the rainbow are enroute to surveil and perhaps attack the the arced rainbow on the horizon. They are armed with Hellfire and guided missiles. The drones are camouflaged in an attempt to dupe the rainbow, but will they? But...maybe the rainbow is enticing the drones into a trap? The rainbow is fortified with the presence of trees-of-life, each painted a colour of the rainbow. The rainbow, of course can disappear, but its essence remains in the trees-of-life. What does this mean for the posse of rainbow coloured drones, representing 21st century fast paced and ubiquitous technological development, surveillance and more? I suppose that depends on us!

Is this a landscape or a skyscape? The sky is an arena of contest!

When I painted this painting lots of thoughts were running around in my head. But, I'll let your imaginations take flight now!

Drone Clouds Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

DRONE CLOUDS

Drone Clouds was inspired by thinking about the increasing use of drones and how they create a kind of artificial 'ceiling' in the sky. This can be viewed as both a literal and a psychological 'ceiling'. If we develop a fearful mentality that the sky is a place of threat what happens to the beauty of cosmological perspectives? Regular readers know I have a fascination with cosmology, and the close and far distances it reveals. Threat from the sky is something that limits a fearless desire to look beyond horizons, Earthly ones  as well as universal ones. 

Eyal Weizman, an architect and Director of the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths College, London, writes about the Politics of Verticality  and threats from the sky, in the form of surveillance and air attack. Here's a telling quote These eyes in the sky, completing the network of observation that is woven throughout the ground, finally iron out the folded surface and flatten the terrain. From the air, everything can be watched – if you have the right kind of access.( Weizmann, 2002)

Drone Clouds, like many of my recent paintings, was also partly inspired by reading French Philosopher Gregoire Chamayou's fascinating book Drone Theory. The threat from above, represented by drones controlled and operated by remote pilots, makes the whole world a potential "hunting ground". The rhetoric around the development of autonomous weapons, makes the threat even more alarming. 

LANDSCAPE

I wonder what becomes of landscape if the world is perceived as a "hunting ground"? If perceptions of the sky change, landscape changes, distance loses perspective, horizons become sublime -filled with hope and horror, that is... if they can be glimpsed through hooded eyes. Does the underground offer safety - maybe not? Maybe exodus to other planets is another escape route?

As regular readers know I am interested in untethering notions of landscape from Earth-bound horizons, to embrace the perspectives that cosmology offers. I suggest that these kinds of multiple perspectives of distance provide ways to evaluate humankind's place in the universe, to critique activities such as the militarisation of technology and more. 

PERSPECTIVE

In Drone Clouds I play with perspective. Is the viewer below the drones looking up, or are they above the drones looking down? If it is the latter maybe the viewer is an alien watching humankind's dangerous play? Or, maybe humankind has developed another layer of surveillance - good or bad? Or...?

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

THE EDGE

The Edge Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

TECH REVOLUTION

I don't know about you, but I feel humanity is situated on the edge of the next revolution...a tech revolution. It could be an exciting future. But, then again, it may not be. 

AI and AGI - BENEFIT TO HUMANITY

Artificial intelligence is one of main areas of technological development where people are putting efforts into safeguarding benefit to humanity perspectives. The fact that emphasis is placed on benefit to humanity means there is a downside...where developments could be detrimental to humanity. Multi-disciplinary research centres like the Center of the Study of Existential Risk [CSER}at Cambridge University and the more loosely formed Future of Life Institute [Boston] [FLI] all have initiatives to conduct research into AI and AGI [artificial general intelligence ie: expansive human-like intelligence rather than task oriented] where benefit to humanity is the key driver. Then there is the recently formed Partnership on AI: to benefit people and society . The partnership is Amazon, Deep Mind, Google, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. 

So, there are a couple of things to think about. One is the importance technology and AI developers are placing on benefit to humanity issues. The downside is acknowledged risk, which whilst small maybe irredeemable. Here, I quote from the CSER website The field of artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly along a range of fronts and while it promises tremendous benefits, a growing body of experts within and outside the field has raised concerns that future developments may represent a major technological risk. With the level of power, autonomy, and generality of AI expected to increase in coming years and decades, forward planning and research to avoid unexpected catastrophic consequences is essential.

MONEY - LAW

Another thing to think about is - money. Beneficial AI will be lucrative for some, hopefully for many. Taking risks that might see the human species incapacitated in some way or worse, potentially annihilated, is not good business! There is a financial benefit in keeping AI beneficial to humans! This, of course, erupts into a whole set of other issues concerning equitable distribution and access, monopoly players, private vs public and more. Then there are questions about how legal frameworks will keep up with the ramifications of AI, AGI, autonomous weapons etc. The law is not noted for being a fast paced institution. Will it be left behind? Will AI replace practitioners and the judiciary? How can those who think about potential legal issues eg: law academics and legislators, keep up?

THE EDGE

My painting The Edge 'speaks' to all the issues I've written about...and more. Regular readers will know of my keen interest in the development of lethal autonomous weapons [LAWS]. This kind of development is a specific case of AI being used in ways that could pose major risks. These are not just mortal risks, but also risks that will erode what it means to be human, what it means to live in community, erosion of ideas about society and civilisation. I draw your attention to an Open Letter published on the FLI website Autonomous Weapons: An Open Letter form AI and Robotics Researchers

In The Edge I have used the figure of the armed drone. Six of them are half emerged from under something...they appear to be on the edge of emergence, ready and able to seek with their wide area surveillance systems and weapons. The drone is becoming a symbol of 21st century Western power and might, a symbol of a threshold in technological prowess where machines may be equipped with an autonomy that takes us into a scifi future. The symbol of the drone is, of course, a contested one. In parts of the world experiencing the outcomes of drone attacks, the drone is a symbol of inhumanity. 

In the painting, I quite like how the drones seem to be entering an abyss-like place. It seems to fall away from the foreground. It's like the drones have fallen off the edge of a ravine or cliff - rather than emerging from something? Yet, it may not be all bad! Maybe these drones are keeping Earth safe from alien attack? Maybe they are stationed in space? Maybe the 'landscape' is a cosmic one, rather than an Earthly one? The paint has created the 'scape' seemingly on its own. 

Maybe....?????

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

DRONE SPIRAL

Drone Spiral Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

DARK THOUGHTS

I imagine a drone spiraling out of control. The cause - unknown - wind gusts, attack, hacking, electrical fault - who knows?

Yes, apparently military drones do crash. Check out this  article in the Washington Post 

But, of course, when they crash there is no crew to get hurt. The remote pilot is safely ensconced in his or her bunker, at home.

There is another thought - the drone as a symbol of civilisation's immanent dance on the edges of existence...? The drone has taken on symbolic tones, representing the cusp of human and non-human control, human controlled and autonomously controlled weapons of war. I imagine my drone in Drone Spiral spiraling in the space between!

Dark thoughts!

ENVIRONMENT

Apart from the dark thoughts this painting is another of my droned landscapes, where I attempt to conjure landscape as something untethered from normal concepts of landscape. Taking cosmological perspectives, I try to 'see' landscape in ways that may help address current and looming environmental issues. 

NEWS

My entry into the $15,000 Redland Art Prize is a finalist! I take it to the gallery next week and later in the week winners are announced. The finalists are listed HERE 

My entry is Where There's Life There's.... I have used binary code, the tree-of-life and landscape, inhabiting a cosmic scape in an ambiguous universe [that's if you thing multi-universes exist!].

Where There's Life There's... Oil on linen 92 x 102 cm 2015

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

CAMOUFLAGE

Camouflage Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

RESEARCH

As regular readers know, I am currently an M. Phil candidate in the School of Communications and Arts at the University of Queensland. My degree is a research one, thus I spend a lot of time reading and writing. My research topic came out of my own work as an artist and now the research is feeding back into my work. My practice is not part of the degree as it is not a practice lead degree. However, by the time I finish it I will have a large body of work that will reflect the research trajectory. Part of my studies includes research into militarised technology, particularly night vision capabilities and unmanned air vehicles [UAV], commonly called drones. Hence, my predilection for drones in recent paintings.

AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS

The initial impetus for my research came from my interest in existential risk posed by emerging technologies ie: those technologies not yet fully developed or even embarked upon. Whilst risk might be small, the possible outcomes could be cataclysmic. Thus, the risk is worthy of attention. For instance, there is risk in the coupling of AI or AGI with the development of autonomous weapons. Voila! You have a reason for why I am studying militarised technology...

CAMOUFLAGE

Camouflage is normally associated with military tactics-uniforms, colouration and patterning on vehicles, decoys, undercover work and so on. It is a tactic taken from nature where animals and some plants change in order not to be eaten by predators- think stick insects, for example. In a sense even trying to humanise AI is a kind of camouflage, albeit a tricky and potentially dangerous one. Just think of Ava in the recent movie Ex Machina. By making her human-like normal safety alerts and boundaries became vulnerable to erosion because humans emotionally connected with her.

TREE-OF-LIFE

Ideas of camouflage intersect with my very long interest in the tree-of-life, an age-old transcultural/religious symbol. Its branching appearance is repeated across life, land and the universe in seen and unseen forces and things. For example, think about our vascular system and river networks, think about leaves and ice flows on cold planets. I wonder if the tree holds clues to the template for the universe? Its repeating patterns are far more than mimicry or camouflage. 

I have painted the weaponised drone in Camouflage [above-detail below] the same colours as the two cascading trees-of-life to suggest a warning.  

Detail

DRONESCAPE

This painting is another of my dronescapes. They represent a sub-theme of my quest to re-consider what landscape means in the 21 st century. I suggest we need to untether landscape from earth-bound horizons by launching ourselves into universal distances, where we can evaluate Earth and humanity from new and multiple perspectives. The droning of the landscape, where surveillance mechanisms and infrastructure proliferate, is just but one of my considerations. 

Cheers,

Kathryn

AEROPOLITICS IMAGINED

 Aeropolitics Imagined Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

In the last week an article appeared in media outlets. It got my attention. 

Its title Australia to Start Making Military Drones Ahead of Future Warfare Dominated by Machines is certainly worthy of attention! 

The writer is David Wroe and he was reporting about a topic discussed at the recent Land Forces Conference in Adelaide. That topic - drones or unmanned vehicles. These can include unmanned land, sea, undersea and air vehicles. The article also reports on discussions about potential autonomy of these systems. It also reports on Australia's position, and fears that if we don't keep up with advancing technology, we will be left behind. It's a race - it seems. 

Regular readers will know why I am SO interested in various aspects of this article and the conference. Yes - drones, autonomous weapons, and Australian involvement in the development and deployment of these systems. Also - the accelerating international interest in unmanned and autonomous systems, and how war and conflict are being reframed y contemporary technology...and so on. I am also interested in the rhetoric and the language used by politicians, systems' developers and the military. 

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

As an artist and a painter I am interested in the changing landscape - literal and metaphoric. The use of airborne drones changes the way the sky and space are perceived as increasingly political and strategic. Dual-use systems blur the line between civilian benefit and military benefit. Does this mean that landscapes of land and sky hold insidious dichotomies that require vigilance - thus forcing the civilian to take some kind of war-footing preparedness? If surveillance penetrates all movement and terrain, built and natural, where can we hide?

In various books and articles cultural theorist Paul Virilio writes about aeropolitical repercussions of threat from the air. His theories of accelerating technological speed intersect in ways that are, I think, revelatory [if people pay attention]. Professor of spatial and visual cultures, Eyal Weizman writes about the 'verticality of threat' posed by airborne surveillance systems that can assist targeting and attack capabilities. Philosopher Gregoire Chamayou also writes very succinctly about aeropolitical issues associated with the airborne drone in his book Drone Theory. 

What If? Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

The two paintings above express a few of my responses to the plethora of material I have been reading. 

AEROPOLITICS IMAGINED

Aeropolitics Imagined plays with images of screen-based surveillance. The wide area surveillance systems used by militarised drones mean that remote operators/warfighters can focus, in real-time, onto one element of an image. They can then enlarge that particular spot, while keeping all other images and the environmental context in sight.

In Aeropolitics Imagined Australia seems to be the enlarged image, with scoping signals embracing the continent, perhaps readying for closer scrutiny and possible attack. However, there are other possibilities. Maybe Australia has deployed a system of surveillance and attack protection, similar to Israel's Drone Dome? The white 'signals' emanating from the continent could be deploying defensive positions. Maybe the drone is an Australian one - after all both the continent and the drone are painted red and green - they seem to reflect each other. If it is an Australian drone, what is its target? We are not privy to that information.

WHAT IF?

In What If? the continent of Australia is divided into sectors. A communications satellite and a GPS satellite hover. Two weaponised drones, one departing Australia and one seemingly arriving, are silhouetted against the Pacific Ocean. Drones currrently require connectivity with space-based assets in order to operate, and to send and receive data, hence the positioning of the satellites in What If?.

Similarly to Aeropolitics Imagined there are multiple possible readings for this painting. This is deliberate - and regular readers will not be surprised by this. 

DUAL-USE

The accelerating pace of developments in drone technology is both fascinating and scary. 

Civilian use of airborne drones can be beneficial in times of disaster, for agricultural management, for environmental surveillance and for many other uses.  Drone racing, and other recreational and sporting options are becoming more popular. These all require various regulations, but is legislation keeping up? 

The dual-use nature of the drone, however, means that its use in war and conflict zones, by multiple military, non-military, aberrant, state and non-state players, creates significant concerns and anxieties. 

On that 'happy' note....

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

REGROWTH + DRONE STAR

Regrowth Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

NEWS

I am very happy to report that my entry Where There's Life There's... is a finalist in the $15,000 Redland Art Award. This award is biennial. You can read more about it and see the list of finalists etc HERE I shall keep you up to date - winner announced 14 October. 

And, at the bottom of this post I have news about the Tattersall's Landscape Art Prize. 

REGROWTH + DRONE STAR

As you can see I am still fixated on the figure of the drone - the drone in the landscape to be more precise. Both Regrowth and Drone Star  depict a drone with emanating signals that create a star-like appearance. These signals are representative of a drone's sensors which receive and transmit data. 

In Regrowth the drone's signals contrast with the emanating branches of the tree-of-life.  This age-old transcultural/religious symbol is the drone's target - for data and perhaps attack. The red box - kill box- around the lone tree indicates that it is a target. Yet, the tree defies the intrusion by sending down new roots. In my mind it acts subversively, but then again, having seen Australian bush regrowth, I know that where and when it can, life re-emerges. 

Drone Star plays with the viewer's sense of orientation. Are you above the drone looking down onto the ground or are you below the drone looking up to a sky. In either case the drone's signals have taken over, hijacked even, the landscape - skyscape. The vibrant colours act as a kind of camouflage sending a message of benign, or even fun, intent. But, is this really the case? 

As regular readers know, I have a delight in playing with perspective and orientation. The drone is giving me ample inspiration in so many ways. 

Here are links to some more of my recent DRONE paintings:

DRONESCAPES

DRONE EXHAUST 

STRATEGIC LANDSCAPE - DRONED

DATA DATA - SKY OF EYES

DRONE LIFE SHADOW PLAY

Drone Star Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

TATTERSALLS'S LANDSCAPE ART AWARD UPDATE

And, here's the news on the Tattersall's $30,000 Landscape Art Prize. The winner was announced on Wednesday last week. AND, congratulations to Ann Thomson for her win with Breakwater. Highly Commended to Melissa Egan and Guy Warren, Commended to Margaret Loy Pula and Members' Choice Award to Michael McWilliams. The exhibition will continue from 12 September to 23 September at the Riverside Centre, 123 Eagle St, Brisbane. 

My entry Privileged Landscape? [below] received some great comments from people at the opening. 

 Privileged Landscape oil on linen 80 x 140 cm 2015

DRONESCAPES

Target Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

Firstly let's start with some great news: 

 1. One of my entries has been selected as a finalist for the $15,000 Redland Art Award . Prizes will be announced on the 14th October and the exhibition continues until 27 November. 

2. My painting Privileged Landscape? is a finalist [by invitation] for the $30,000 Tattersall's Landscape Art Prize.   The prize is announced 7 September. The exhibition will be at the Tattersall's Club 5 - 9 September and then it re-locates to the Riverside Centre 12 - 23 September.

DRONES

As regular readers know I have been thinking about unmanned air vehicles [UAVs], more commonly called drones. More particularly I am interested in the weaponised drone used for military and counterinsurgency purposes. These are operated by remote pilots. The system of operation relies on a vast amount of technology and connectivity eg: communication satellites, GPS satellites, ground based antenna systems and control stations. The drone, in flight, sits between space-based and ground assets, acting like a conduit or node. You can find more information about the connectivity required to operate a drone here.

TARGETTING

But, the aim of the drone, or more precisely, the aim of those who deploy drones, is to target. It seems to me there are basically two types of targeting, one is to target via a drone's various surveillance sensors to gather information and data, the other is to target to kill. Obviously the first kind of targeting is related to the second type. However, as weapons become more autonomous, who or what develops aims for either type of targeting comes under scrutiny. Currently there is debate about the development of lethal autonomous weapons, with arguments that there must be meaningful human control - whatever that might mean. If you are not aware of these discussion a good start is the Future of Life Institute, especially the Autonomous Weapons: An Open Letter from AI and Robotics Researchers which is displayed on their website. 

Gregoire Chamayou, in his book Drone Theory (2015) describes the drone as a “projectile-carrying machine” equipped with an “unblinking eye” that enables a “24 hour constant gaze” to undertake its “militarised manhunt”.1  

If you read more about militarised drones you will come across various other very blunt descriptions of them. 

                                      Remote Control Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2016

DRONES - LANDSCAPE - AGE-OLD SYMBOLS - COSMOLOGY

So, you might ask, how can Kathryn find inspiration in such a macabre subject? Well, I do! 

I think about the drone with my landscape painter's eyes and mind, creating what I call dronescapes. I think about it in relation to age-old symbols, such as my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life. I think about the drone in relation to my interest in existential risk posed by emerging technologies. And, I think about it with my fascination for cosmology driving my attempts to use multiple perspectives to engage with it. Hence, my recent paintings, like the two above, juxtapose the figure of the drone with the tree-of-life, against backgrounds that appear to be cosmic landscapes. The tree, symbolises all life and existence. It also acts as a representation of systems, its branching appearance acting as a template for both human-made and natural ones. 

Target

The armed drone seems to target the tree - my representation of the tree-of-life. Yet, the cosmic landscape indicates, perhaps, that this painting depicts something from another world of time and place. Maybe the tree targets the drone?

Remote Control

I have painted a satellite antenna, a ground-based control station, a communications satellite, a GPS satellite, an armed drone  - and - the target. Its a system and even though the tree-of-life is the target, it represents an alternative system. One of the trees is upside down. Whilst it is a tree, it also has a root-like appearance contained within a white circle. Does it mean new life? Is it a homage to past life? I don't know! What do you think?

1. Chamayou, Gregoire. Drone Theory, trans by Janet Lloyd (Penguin Books: London, 2015) 27, 32, 38.

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com