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| resilients:unmanned_aerial_ecologies [2013-05-14 09:13] – alkan | resilients:unmanned_aerial_ecologies [2013-05-14 11:17] – alkan |
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| By Honor Harger, April 2013 | By Honor Harger, April 2013 |
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| <blockquote>//This text originally appeared on Honor Harger's blog as [[http://honorharger.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/unmanned-aerial-ecologies-proto-drones-airspace-and-canaries-in-the-mine/|'Unmanned Aerial Ecologies']], and is republished here with permission.//</blockquote> | |
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| C-Astral Bramor UAV during landing, Kilpisjaervi, Lapland, November 2012, courtesy of Marko Peljhan | C-Astral Bramor UAV during landing, Kilpisjaervi, Lapland, November 2012, courtesy of Marko Peljhan |
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| On Tuesday 16 April 2013, I gave a talk in Brussels at the seminar, //[[http://thedigitalnow.be/?page_id=178|Look Up in the Sky!]]//, which was organised by Cimatics as part of their [[http://thedigitalnow.be/?page_id=7|Digital Now]] programme, to coincide with the Brussels Art Fair. Michel van Dartel moderated, Bram Crevits introduced the exhibition he curated for the //Digital Now//, and [[http://booktwo.org/|James Bridle]] gave an excellent talk on drones called ‘A Quiet Disposition’, which he’ll be [[http://is.gd/jamestalk|reprising at Lighthouse]] in Brighton, on 9 May 2013. | On Tuesday 16 April 2013, I gave a talk in Brussels at the seminar, //[[http://thedigitalnow.be/?page_id=178|Look Up in the Sky!]]//, which was organised by Cimatics as part of their [[http://thedigitalnow.be/?page_id=7|Digital Now]] programme to coincide with the Brussels Art Fair. Michel van Dartel moderated, Bram Crevits introduced the exhibition he curated for the programme, and [[http://booktwo.org/|James Bridle]] gave an excellent talk on drones called ‘A Quiet Disposition’, which he’ll be [[http://is.gd/jamestalk|reprising at Lighthouse]] in Brighton, on 9 May 2013. |
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| My talk followed on from [[http://decelerator.blogspot.fr/2012/11/a-drones-eye-view-revealing-killing.html|a piece I wrote last November]], which looked at contemporary artists’ responses to drones. It was an attempt to provide some recent art historical context. Below is a rough account of what I said, annotated and illustrated where practical. | My talk followed on from [[http://decelerator.blogspot.fr/2012/11/a-drones-eye-view-revealing-killing.html|a piece I wrote last November]], which looked at contemporary artists’ responses to drones. It was an attempt to provide some recent art-historical context. Below is a rough account of what I said, annotated and illustrated where practical. |
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| The Bureau of Inverse Technology was formed in 1991 by Australian engineers and artists Natalie Jeremijenko and Kate Rich. Their work expresses an understanding, and an unease, with the expanding technological capacity of commercial and military organisations. | The Bureau of Inverse Technology was formed in 1991 by Australian engineers and artists Natalie Jeremijenko and Kate Rich. Their work expresses an understanding, and an unease, with the expanding technological capacity of commercial and military organisations. |
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| One of their canonical pieces is //[[http://bureauit.org/plane|bitplane]]//. It was a radio-controlled airplane, equipped with a video camera and transmitter. In 1997, it was launched on a series of sorties over the Silicon Valley in California. Guided by the live video feed from the plane, the pilot on the ground was able to, [[[http://bureauit.org/plane|as the artists put it]], 'steer the plane deep into the glittering heartlands of the Information Age'. | One of their canonical pieces is //[[http://bureauit.org/plane|bitplane]]//. It was a radio-controlled airplane, equipped with a video camera and transmitter. In 1997, it was launched on a series of sorties over the Silicon Valley in California. Guided by the live video feed from the plane, the pilot on the ground was able to, [[http://bureauit.org/plane|as the artists put it]], 'steer the plane deep into the glittering heartlands of the Information Age'. |
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| It is evident that the artists are expressing a deep concern not only with the militarised component of the military-industrial complex. They are correlating the spaces where the manufacture of weapons and the manufacture of information technology both take place. They are critiquing the economics of the area, the infrastructure of technology, the sites where secret research takes place, the locales where aircraft systems are thought-up and built. | It is evident that the artists are expressing a deep concern not only with the militarised component of the military-industrial complex. They are correlating the spaces where the manufacture of weapons and the manufacture of information technology both take place. They are critiquing the economics of the area, the infrastructure of technology, the sites where secret research takes place, the locales where aircraft systems are thought-up and built. |
| Makrolab, Blair Atholl Estate, Scotland (2002) by Marko Peljhan. Photograph by r a d i o q u a l i a. | Makrolab, Blair Atholl Estate, Scotland (2002) by Marko Peljhan. Photograph by r a d i o q u a l i a. |
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| Peljhan has always had a deep fascination with the sky, honed by a lifetime of exploring the air through amateur radio, and satellite tracking, but also through physical explorations of airspace, during his time as a pilot. His approach to airspace is summed up [[http://vimeo.com/44982545|here, in a quotation referring to legislation governing the airwaves in Germany]]: | Peljhan has always had a deep fascination with the sky, honed by a lifetime of exploring the air through amateur radio, and satellite tracking, but also through physical explorations of airspace, during his time as a pilot. His approach to airspace is summed up here, in a [[http://vimeo.com/44982545|quotation referring to legislation governing the airwaves in Germany]]: |
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| //‘What isn’t forbidden is, of course, allowed. Everything in the air is, in a way, common property.’// | //‘What isn’t forbidden is, of course, allowed. Everything in the air is, in a way, common property.’// |
| TRUST-SYSTEM by Marko Peljhan (1999) | TRUST-SYSTEM by Marko Peljhan (1999) |
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| The [[http://is.gd/TRUST22|TRUST-SYSTEM]], or //Tactical Radio Unified System Transport.// The TRUST-SYSTEM was two parallel projects. One was the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle that was intended to act as an extension of the environmental and electromagnetic sensing capabilities of the [[http://v2.nl/archive/works/makrolab|//Makrolab//]]. This eventually evolved into the [[http://www.kibla.org/dejavnosti/kibela/arhiv/kibela-arhiv/2005/marko-peljhan/|SPECTRAL-SYSTEM]] project. | The [[http://is.gd/TRUST22|TRUST-SYSTEM]], or //Tactical Radio Unified System Transport.// The TRUST-SYSTEM was two parallel projects. One was the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle that was intended to act as an extension of the environmental and electromagnetic sensing capabilities of the //[[http://v2.nl/archive/works/makrolab|Makrolab]]//. This eventually evolved into the [[http://www.kibla.org/dejavnosti/kibela/arhiv/kibela-arhiv/2005/marko-peljhan/|SPECTRAL-SYSTEM]] project. |
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| The other project was a plan to transform a cruise missile, for instance a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_ShadowStorm Shadow]], into an operational broadcast station, which would deploy radio receivers instead of cluster munitions. The converted missile itself would also be a powerful, and yet stealthy, radio transmitter. Conceptualized as a direct response to the war in Kosovo and the refugee situation there, the TRUST-SYSTEM was designed to be used in conflict, or post-conflict, zones, where broadcast radio and free information, were either technically or politically impossible. | The other project was a plan to transform a cruise missile, for instance a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Shadow|Storm Shadow]], into an operational broadcast station, which would deploy radio receivers instead of cluster munitions. The converted missile itself would also be a powerful, and yet stealthy, radio transmitter. Conceptualized as a direct response to the war in Kosovo and the refugee situation there, the TRUST-SYSTEM was designed to be used in conflict, or post-conflict, zones, where broadcast radio and free information, were either technically or politically impossible. |
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| It was first exhibited as an installation at MOMA-PS1 in New York, April 1999. The installation consisted of the plans for the conversion of the missile, as well as actual elements of a cruise missile system. Loaned to the museum for by US and Israeli defense contractors for a technology design exhibition, these components ended being converted into the TRUST-SYSTEM installation. | It was first exhibited as an installation at MOMA-PS1 in New York, April 1999. The installation consisted of the plans for the conversion of the missile, as well as actual elements of a cruise missile system. Loaned to the museum for by US and Israeli defense contractors for a technology design exhibition, these components ended being converted into the TRUST-SYSTEM installation. |
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| TRUST-SYSTEM 15 [Tactical Radio Unified System Transport] by Marko Peljhan (1999), at MOMA-PS1 in New York. Image Paula Court | TRUST-SYSTEM 15 [Tactical Radio Unified System Transport] by Marko Peljhan (1999), at MOMA-PS1 in New York. Image Paula Court |
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| Here Peljhan makes one of the core tenets of his practice explicit. //Conversion.// He uses this term to refer to the conversion of technologies developed for the military industrial complex into civilian or cultural tools. [[http://is.gd/situational|As he has written (2007]]): | Here Peljhan makes one of the core tenets of his practice explicit. //Conversion.// He uses this term to refer to the conversion of technologies developed for the military industrial complex into civilian or cultural tools. As he has [[http://is.gd/situational|written (2007]]): |
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| //‘Conversion from abstract to material, military to civilian, from dark to light, from closed to open, from node to network, from old to new and vice versa.’// | //‘Conversion from abstract to material, military to civilian, from dark to light, from closed to open, from node to network, from old to new and vice versa.’// |
| Territory 1995 by Marko Peljhan (2009), Istanbul Biennale, Turkey | Territory 1995 by Marko Peljhan (2009), Istanbul Biennale, Turkey |
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| Peljhan was deeply effected by the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. In the project, [[http://www.ladomir.net/territory-1995-istanbul-biennale-2009|Territory 1995]], first shown at the 2009 Istanbul Biennial, Peljhan grapples with the sense of powerlessness many people felt during the horrific events of the the mid 1990s. In it, Peljhan created analytical maps of the command and control communications of the Serb forces during the Srebrenica genocide in July 1995. It drew on research and field interviews with intelligence sources and survivors in Bosnia and Serbia, and made use of the open source information and documents gathered during the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia court proceedings. The project maps the military operation that led to the Genocide and explicitly uncovers the electromagnetic and communications traces that were operative during that time. | Peljhan was deeply affected by the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. In the project, [[http://www.ladomir.net/territory-1995-istanbul-biennale-2009|Territory 1995]], first shown at the 2009 Istanbul Biennial, Peljhan grapples with the sense of powerlessness many people felt during the horrific events of the the mid 1990s. In it, Peljhan created analytical maps of the command and control communications of the Serb forces during the Srebrenica genocide in July 1995. It drew on research and field interviews with intelligence sources and survivors in Bosnia and Serbia, and made use of the open source information and documents gathered during the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia court proceedings. The project maps the military operation that led to the Genocide and explicitly uncovers the electromagnetic and communications traces that were operative during that time. |
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| When war broke out again in Kosovo in 1998-99, Peljhan began to design and build prototypes of systems which were intended to actively contravene military suppression. Seeing that information and communication infrastructure was always vulnerable during times of conflict, Peljhan wanted to create independent infrastructures, which would enable the free flow of communication at times when it was needed the most. | When war broke out again in Kosovo in 1998-99, Peljhan began to design and build prototypes of systems which were intended to actively contravene military suppression. Seeing that information and communication infrastructure was always vulnerable during times of conflict, Peljhan wanted to create independent infrastructures, which would enable the free flow of communication at times when it was needed the most. |
| //‘The system would consist of base HF stations, portable units and gateways to connect it to the global data network. We can gather from military analysis and amateur radio experience over the last 50 years, that HF technology has unique characteristics that make it ideal for long haul communications.’// [[http://www.n5m.org/n5m3/pages/insular3.html|Peljhan (1999)]] | //‘The system would consist of base HF stations, portable units and gateways to connect it to the global data network. We can gather from military analysis and amateur radio experience over the last 50 years, that HF technology has unique characteristics that make it ideal for long haul communications.’// [[http://www.n5m.org/n5m3/pages/insular3.html|Peljhan (1999)]] |
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| TRUST-SYSTEM 22. Images courtesy of Peljhan. | TRUST-SYSTEM 22. Images courtesy of Peljhan |
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| But the TRUST-SYSTEM was more radical. It would be mobile, aerial and would utilise the very weapons of war themselves – planes, missiles – to thwart the intentions of the military. The objective was two-fold – tactical broadcast in areas cut off by military action, and an attempt to maintain a degree of civilian control. As Peljhan put it in a lecture given at SCCA, Ljubljana, called [[http://is.gd/ljSTBg|//Strategies of Minimal Resistance (1999)//]]: | But the TRUST-SYSTEM was more radical. It would be mobile, aerial and would utilise the very weapons of war themselves – planes, missiles – to thwart the intentions of the military. The objective was twofold – tactical broadcast in areas cut off by military action, and an attempt to maintain a degree of civilian control. As Peljhan put it in a lecture given at SCCA, Ljubljana, called //[[http://is.gd/ljSTBg|Strategies of Minimal Resistance (1999)]]:// |
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| //‘The TRUST-SYSTEM enables the tactical broadcasting of a radio programme over territory where broadcasting by the usual means is impossible because of military actions and civil repression.’// | //‘The TRUST-SYSTEM enables the tactical broadcasting of a radio programme over territory where broadcasting by the usual means is impossible because of military actions and civil repression.’// |
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| //I, and an entire culture, are interested in how to maintain a degree of civilian control over very aggressive and self-reproducing systems of social repression which use these same methods to keep us under their thumb.’// | //'I, and an entire culture, are interested in how to maintain a degree of civilian control over very aggressive and self-reproducing systems of social repression which use these same methods to keep us under their thumb.’// |
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| So here, we see again the core idea of tactical media activism at play. The conversion of tools designed for control or repression, being turned around for civilian, activist purposes. This tactic was at the heart of [[http://s-77ccr.org/|//SYSTEM-77-CCR//]] //(SYSTEM-77-Civil Counter Reconnaissance),// which showed how UAVs, in the hands of civil society, could monitor the state. It was presented in Vienna in 2004. | So here, we see again the core idea of tactical media activism at play. The conversion of tools designed for control or repression, being turned around for civilian, activist purposes. This tactic was at the heart of //[[http://s-77ccr.org/|SYSTEM-77-CCR]]// //(SYSTEM-77-Civil Counter Reconnaissance),// which showed how UAVs, in the hands of civil society, could monitor the state. It was presented in Vienna in 2004. |
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| Spectral-System (2004). Render courtesy of Nejc Trost | Spectral-System (2004). Render courtesy of Nejc Trost |
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| SYSTEM-77-CCR was a tactical urban counter-surveillance system for ground controlled UAV’s and airborne drones to monitor public space. UAVs were converted from their role as surveillance-gathering mechanism for governments, to counter-surveillance tools, designed to monitor police aggressive and suppression. | SYSTEM-77-CCR was a tactical urban counter-surveillance system for ground controlled UAVs and airborne drones to monitor public space. UAVs were converted from their role as surveillance-gathering mechanism for governments, to counter-surveillance tools, designed to monitor police aggressive and suppression. |
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| This [[http://future-nonstop.org/c/c56ba37e401b5f41ae1e5497ad0aaa04|video created in 2004]] outlines the objectives of the project: | This [[http://future-nonstop.org/c/c56ba37e401b5f41ae1e5497ad0aaa04|video created in 2004]] outlines the objectives of the project: |
| Video of System-77-CCR (SYSTEM-77 / CIVIL COUNTER-RECONNAISSANCE) by Marko Peljhan (2004) | Video of System-77-CCR (SYSTEM-77 / CIVIL COUNTER-RECONNAISSANCE) by Marko Peljhan (2004) |
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| There’s an important detail in the above video, which is that Peljhan and his colleagues at Public Netbase in Vienna, tested the legality of their actions right up to the level of the Ministry for the Interior. Police were omnipresent for the duration of the project’s presence in Vienna and were actively gathering information about about the team. After a couple of days, they seemed to relax when they began to understand the project was “art”. You’ll note in the video, that the then Minister of Interior says that while police are subject to rules, “art is free”. This was a bizarre legitimization of the SYSTEM-77-CCR endeavor. | There’s an important detail in the above video, which is that Peljhan and his colleagues at Public Netbase in Vienna, tested the legality of their actions right up to the level of the Ministry for the Interior. Police were omnipresent for the duration of the project’s presence in Vienna and were actively gathering information about about the team. After a couple of days, they seemed to relax when they began to understand the project was 'art'. You’ll note in the video, that the then Minister of Interior says that while police are subject to rules, 'art is free'. This was a bizarre legitimization of the SYSTEM-77-CCR endeavor. |
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| This points to a valuable side-effect of contextualising these radical critical actions within the framework of art. Here, stationed in the [[http://makeworlds.net/node/12|Makrolab on Campalto Island as part of the the Venice Biennial in 2003]], Peljhan underscores this. Here he tells Slovenian television: | This points to a valuable side-effect of contextualising these radical critical actions within the framework of art. Here, stationed in the [[http://makeworlds.net/node/12|Makrolab on Campalto Island as part of the the Venice Biennial in 2003]], Peljhan underscores this. Here he tells Slovenian television: |
| Marko Peljhan quoted in Invisible Territory, a documentary by Zemira Alajbegovic, RTV Slovenia, 2007 | Marko Peljhan quoted in Invisible Territory, a documentary by Zemira Alajbegovic, RTV Slovenia, 2007 |
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| We may ask ourselves how it is possible for artists to continue to have genuine agency in the skies now, at a time where the drone-wars have escalated to the point that governments are scoring points with one another by intercepting one another’s drones, and broadcasting their feeds live on state television. The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw9c1gk0Cf4|above video]] is a broadcast on Iranian television, celebrating the capture of the RQ-170 drone belonging to the US military in December 2011. Surely now, this space has become too loaded for artistic intervention? | We may ask ourselves how it is possible for artists to continue to have genuine agency in the skies now, at a time when the drone-wars have escalated to the point that governments are scoring points with one another by intercepting one another’s drones, and broadcasting their feeds live on state television. The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw9c1gk0Cf4|above video]] is a broadcast on Iranian television, celebrating the capture of the RQ-170 drone belonging to the US military in December 2011. Surely now, this space has become too loaded for artistic intervention? |
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| Peljhan’s response to this situation was to team up with his collaborators, Nejc Trost and Samo Stopar (who had worked on SYSTEM-77-CCR), and establish a new company. The intention was to develop prototypes that were created within the context of the art, to a point where they could enter society and start their ‘conversion duties’, on a much wider basis. | Peljhan’s response to this situation was to team up with his collaborators, Nejc Trost and Samo Stopar (who had worked on SYSTEM-77-CCR), and establish a new company. The intention was to develop prototypes that were created within the context of the art, to a point where they could enter society and start their ‘conversion duties’, on a much wider basis. |
| Bramor gEO UAV from C-Astral, operated by the Kemijarvi Vocational College in Lapland. Photograph courtesy of Marko Peljhan. | Bramor gEO UAV from C-Astral, operated by the Kemijarvi Vocational College in Lapland. Photograph courtesy of Marko Peljhan. |
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| The [[http://c-astral.com/products/ortophoto/system/|//Bramor gEO//]], their most advanced UAV, has powerful imaging hardware and software, as well as day and night video surveillance equipment, which enables research groups, scientists and indigenous communities, to map their territory, imaging it in ways they would have no capacity to do otherwise. The UAVs are also being considered for use in various conservation and ecological contexts, for example, supporting an anti-rhino poaching campaign in Southern Africa. | The //[[http://c-astral.com/products/ortophoto/system/|Bramor gEO]]//, their most advanced UAV, has powerful imaging hardware and software, as well as day and night video surveillance equipment, which enables research groups, scientists and indigenous communities, to map their territory, imaging it in ways they would have no capacity to do otherwise. The UAVs are also being considered for use in various conservation and ecological contexts, for example, supporting an anti-rhino poaching campaign in Southern Africa. |
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| So, this is a quite dramatic example of Peljhan’s notion of conversion. Out of a desire to create a series of tactical art prototypes, [[http://c-astral.com/|a successful company]] specialising on UAVs for civilian, cultural and scientific purposes has been born. And one that ironically, is drawing the attention of the military itself. | So, this is a quite dramatic example of Peljhan’s notion of conversion. Out of a desire to create a series of tactical art prototypes, [[http://c-astral.com/|a successful company]] specialising on UAVs for civilian, cultural and scientific purposes has been born. And one that ironically, is drawing the attention of the military itself. |
| Bramor gEO UAV in flight. | Bramor gEO UAV in flight. |
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| All these interventions were made within a wider context of an interest in networked space. We can see in these works that Peljhan has a deep concern with how this is an extension of **//territory//**, territory which can be surveilled and controlled. The sky here, is not merely a space for flight. It is a space for the transmission and reception of command, control, communications, computation, and intelligence – so-called C4i protocols. Probing this space doesn’t just happen through aircraft. It happens through telescopes, radar, radio, satellites and ground-stations. The drone is simply one mechanism which intervenes into this networked space. | All these interventions were made within a wider context of an interest in networked space. We can see in these works that Peljhan has a deep concern with how this is an extension of **//territory//** -- territory which can be surveilled and controlled. The sky here is not merely a space for flight. It is a space for the transmission and reception of command, control, communications, computation, and intelligence – so-called C4i protocols. Probing this space doesn’t just happen through aircraft. It happens through telescopes, radar, radio, satellites and ground-stations. The drone is simply one mechanism which intervenes into this networked space. |
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| Right now, it’s become one of the most potent technologies, a symbol almost of this networked space, but it would be inaccurate, almost fetishistic, to see the drone as disconnected from the command and control systems which is it intimately connected to. To the physical infrastructure which enables these machines to fly. | Right now, it’s become one of the most potent technologies, a symbol almost of this networked space, but it would be inaccurate, almost fetishistic, to see the drone as disconnected from the command and control systems which is it intimately connected to. To the physical infrastructure which enables these machines to fly. |
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| ===Revealing Infrastructures=== | ===Revealing Infrastructures=== |
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For the past three years, [[http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/|Lighthouse]] has been thinking very hard about this. We have undertaken a series of curatorial investigations into these invisible technological infrastructures that make up our world and make it possible for technologies like this to exist. |
For the past three years, [[http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/|Lighthouse]] has been thinking very hard about this. We have undertaken a series of curatorial investigations into these invisible technological infrastructures that make up our world and make it possible for technologies like this to exist. |
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| ===Invisible Fields=== | ===Invisible Fields=== |
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This began in 2011 with the exhibition, [[http://is.gd/invisible|Invisible Fields]], which revealed the radio spectrum – the invisible environment that enables contemporary technologies of information and communication, including drones. The exhibition was co-curated by Jose Luis de Vicente, and me, and it set out the spectrum as [[http://is.gd/invisible|a physical space, invisible but present]], a terrain that can be studied, mapped, surveyed and explored. |
This began in 2011 with the exhibition, [[http://is.gd/invisible|Invisible Fields]], which revealed the radio spectrum – the invisible environment that enables contemporary technologies of information and communication, including drones. The exhibition was co-curated by Jose Luis de Vicente, and me, and it set out the spectrum as [[http://is.gd/invisible|a physical space, invisible but present]], a terrain that can be studied, mapped, surveyed and explored. |
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| ===Geographies of Seeing=== | ===Geographies of Seeing=== |
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We exhibited Trevor Paglen’s first UK solo show, [[http://is.gd/paglen|Geographies of Seeing]], at Lighthouse last year, co-curated by myself and Celia Davies for Brighton Photo Biennial 2012. In it Paglen used the technologies and techniques of astronomical photography to expose the hidden infrastructures of power and the clandestine activities of global government. |
We exhibited Trevor Paglen’s first UK solo show, [[http://is.gd/paglen|Geographies of Seeing]], at Lighthouse last year, co-curated by myself and Celia Davies for Brighton Photo Biennial 2012. In it Paglen used the technologies and techniques of astronomical photography to expose the hidden infrastructures of power and the clandestine activities of global government. |
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| His [[http://www.paglen.com/?l=work&s=othernightsky|first target was our night sky]]. The official catalogue of spacecraft in orbit around the Earth has about 20,000 objects in it. What is not in the catalogue is all of the secret satellites operated by the military. Paglen, together with his collaborators, have tracked these secret satellites and photographed approximately 189 of these objects. | His first target was [[http://www.paglen.com/?l=work&s=othernightsky|our night sky]]. The official catalogue of spacecraft in orbit around the Earth has about 20,000 objects in it. What is not in the catalogue is all of the secret satellites operated by the military. Paglen, together with his collaborators, have tracked these secret satellites and photographed approximately 189 of these objects. |
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| KEYHOLE IMPROVED CRYSTAL from Glacier Point (Optical Reconnaissance Satellite; USA 1860) (2008) by Trevor Paglen. Shown in Geographies of Seeing, Lighthouse, 2012. | KEYHOLE IMPROVED CRYSTAL from Glacier Point (Optical Reconnaissance Satellite; USA 1860) (2008) by Trevor Paglen. Shown in Geographies of Seeing, Lighthouse, 2012 |
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| Paglen is interested in how we can use those the tools and techniques of the early Enlightenment, not to reveal unexpected moons orbiting around Jupiter, as Galileo Galilei did, but man-made moons orbiting our own planet, unmapped by any official record. Because if we can not see them, we can not start asking why they are there, what are they doing, what are they looking at, and why is all this being keep from us? These are questions which are fundamentally important to anyone who wishes to have political agency. | Paglen is interested in how we can use those the tools and techniques of the early Enlightenment, not to reveal unexpected moons orbiting around Jupiter, as Galileo Galilei did, but man-made moons orbiting our own planet, unmapped by any official record. Because if we can not see them, we can't start asking why they are there, what are they doing, what are they looking at, and why all this is being keep from us? These are questions which are fundamentally important to anyone who wishes to have political agency. |
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| Paglen also applies these same techniques to observe and reveal invisible locations closer to home, in particular, [[http://www.paglen.com/?l=work&s=limit|secret US military bases]]. Many of these bases are so remote that there is nowhere that we can go to see them with an unaided eye. They are literally invisible. And this is where Paglen artistic determination comes in. | Paglen also applies these same techniques to observe and reveal invisible locations closer to home, in particular, [[http://www.paglen.com/?l=work&s=limit|secret US military bases]]. Many of these bases are so remote that there is nowhere that we can go to see them with an unaided eye. They are literally invisible. And this is where Paglen's artistic determination comes in. |
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| Paglen employs high powered telescopes whose focal lengths range between 1300 mm and 7000 mm. At this level of magnification, hidden aspects of the landscape become apparent. He enables us to get close to facilities we would never normally see. We see surveillance stations that aren’t mean to be there. Airbases which are being used to launch military aircraft, including, of course, drones. | Paglen employs high-powered telescopes whose focal lengths range between 1300 mm and 7000 mm. At this level of magnification, hidden aspects of the landscape become apparent. He enables us to get close to facilities we would never normally see. We see surveillance stations that aren’t meant to be there. Airbases which are being used to launch military aircraft, including, of course, drones. |
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| Here we see a reaper drone, getting ready to well, reap. | Here we see a reaper drone, getting ready to well, reap. |
| Drone Vision (2010) by Trevor Paglen | Drone Vision (2010) by Trevor Paglen |
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| This is a still from [[http://paglen.com/?l=work&s=drones&i=5|Drone Vision (2010)]], intercepted from an unencrypted satellite channel. Drones are remotely piloted by ground-based operators in the United States who sit in a facility thousands of miles away from the conflict area. The control and video links between aircraft and pilot are often left unencrypted to reduce latency inherent in the system. In this video we see what a drone operator would see, as he pilots his craft towards it’s target, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, or some other undisclosed location. | This is a still from [[http://paglen.com/?l=work&s=drones&i=5|Drone Vision (2010)]], intercepted from an unencrypted satellite channel. Drones are remotely piloted by ground-based operators in the United States who sit in facilities thousands of miles away from the conflict area. The control and video links between aircraft and pilot are often left unencrypted to reduce latency inherent in the system. In this video we see what a drone operator would see, as he pilots his craft towards its target, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, or some other undisclosed location. |
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| ===The Air Itself is One Vast Library=== | ===The Air Itself is One Vast Library=== |
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This May, Lighthouse are deepening our examination of invisible infrastructures of the sky by looking at how the [[http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/lighthouse-at-brighton-festival|technologies of contemporary warfare]] have the effect of disconnecting us from the ethical implications of military conflict. We’re presenting two projects, one is a [[http://is.gd/brightondrone|major public intervention about drones]] by James Bridle. |
This May, Lighthouse are deepening our examination of invisible infrastructures of the sky by looking at how the [[http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/lighthouse-at-brighton-festival|technologies of contemporary warfare]] have the effect of disconnecting us from the ethical implications of military conflict. We’re presenting two projects, one is a [[http://is.gd/brightondrone|major public intervention about drones]] by James Bridle. |
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| Hercules Missile Landscape by Mariele Neudecker (2010). Being shown at The Air Itself is One Vast Library, an exhibition at Lighthouse for Brighton Festival 2013 | Hercules Missile Landscape by Mariele Neudecker (2010). Being shown at The Air Itself is One Vast Library, an exhibition at Lighthouse for Brighton Festival 2013 |
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| The second is [[http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/mariele-neudecker-the-air-itself-is-one-vast-library|an exhibition]] by the German artist, Mariele Neudecker. Neudecker’s work ordinarily focuses on nature, on the sublime. But following research residency at the historic [[http://www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htmNike missile facility]] in California in 2010, she developed a body of work about aerial weapons of mass destruction. Neudecker’s artistic strategy is rooted in ‘ground truth’, a term used in remote sensing to describe data collected on location. Her extraordinary [[http://www.marieleneudecker.co.uk/marieleneudeckej.html|graphite rubbings of vast Hercules missiles]] physically capture the object, making what is otherwise abstract and monstrous, tactile and present. | The second is [[http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/programme/mariele-neudecker-the-air-itself-is-one-vast-library|an exhibition]] by the German artist, Mariele Neudecker. Neudecker’s work ordinarily focuses on nature, on the sublime. But following research residency at the historic [[http://www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htm|Nike missile facility]] in California in 2010, she developed a body of work about aerial weapons of mass destruction. Neudecker’s artistic strategy is rooted in ‘ground truth’, a term used in remote sensing to describe data collected on location. Her extraordinary [[http://www.marieleneudecker.co.uk/marieleneudeckej.html|graphite rubbings of vast Hercules missiles]] physically capture the object, making what is otherwise abstract and monstrous, tactile and present. |
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| Psychopomp by Mariele Neudecker (2010) – Hercules missile rubbings. Being exhibited at Lighthouse, May 2013 | Psychopomp by Mariele Neudecker (2010) – Hercules missile rubbings. Being exhibited at Lighthouse, May 2013 |
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| The title of the exhibition – The Air Itself is One Vast Library – is drawn from a quotation from Charles Babbage, the 19th century mathematician and engineer, who originated the concept of a programmable computer. In 1837, in [[http://is.gd/babbage|//The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise//]], he wrote: | The title of the exhibition – The Air Itself is One Vast Library – is drawn from a quotation from Charles Babbage, the 19th century mathematician and engineer, who originated the concept of a programmable computer. In 1837, in //[[http://is.gd/babbage|The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise]]//, he wrote: |
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| //‘The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are for ever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered. There, in their mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest, as well as with the latest sighs of mortality, stand for ever recorded, vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, perpetuating in the united movements of each particle, the testimony of man’s changeful will.’// | //‘The air itself is one vast library, on whose pages are for ever written all that man has ever said or woman whispered. There, in their mutable but unerring characters, mixed with the earliest, as well as with the latest sighs of mortality, stand for ever recorded, vows unredeemed, promises unfulfilled, perpetuating in the united movements of each particle, the testimony of man’s changeful will.’// |
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| ===Situating a Charismatic Species=== | ===Situating a Charismatic Species=== |
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So, for Babbage, for Peljhan, for Neudecker, for Young, the air here is a synonym for information space. The sky we’re being asked to look up to is an invisible networked ecology, subject to command, control and communication. |
So, for Babbage, for Peljhan, for Neudecker, for Young, the air here is a synonym for information space. The sky we’re being asked to look up to is an invisible networked ecology, subject to command, control and communication. |
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| ===Acknowledgements=== | ===Acknowledgements=== |
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A very special thank you to Marko Peljhan. Sincere thanks also to Kate Rich, Natalie Jeremijenko, and Usman Haque who helped situate this research. And thank you to all the artists and technologists cited, including Trevor Paglen, Timo Arnall, James Bridle, Mariele Neudecker and Liam Young. Full credits and references at: http://is.gd/uavtalk |
A very special thank you to Marko Peljhan. Sincere thanks also to Kate Rich, Natalie Jeremijenko, and Usman Haque who helped situate this research. And thank you to all the artists and technologists cited, including Trevor Paglen, Timo Arnall, James Bridle, Mariele Neudecker and Liam Young. Full credits and references at: http://is.gd/uavtalk |
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| | <blockquote>//This text originally appeared on Honor Harger's blog as [[http://honorharger.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/unmanned-aerial-ecologies-proto-drones-airspace-and-canaries-in-the-mine/|'Unmanned Aerial Ecologies']], and is republished here with permission.//</blockquote> |
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