anti-detection / anti-interception

It’s not very hard to imagine a future where AI and autonomous systems form a global surveillance system with the ability to see and act everywhere simultaneously. Drone swarms navigating at multiple levels of the atmosphere all around the world. We have always had an obsession with the idea of autonomous technology taking over, more specifically even the idea of killer robots. I do believe that we are on a technological trajectory that could lead to some of these imagined futures where we are all ruled by machines. Take a look at this New York Times article on the current state of this kind of technology. Right now there are still humans in the loop, but once we are taken out, things will evolve quickly. Who knows what the future will hold.

Global Deterrence Systems

mysterious signals

Intercept Transmission, digital illustration with 3d printing, 2024

For close to 50 years there have been mysterious signals emitting from areas within the former Soviet Union. There is much speculation as to the exact purpose of the signals. Some have been given specific names such as, The Buzzer, The Pip and The Squeaky wheel. Some of the stations have been located and identified. UVB-76 is one of these stations, still transmitting after having moved locations as recently as 2010. Most of what can be heard on the transmissions could be considered mechanical sounds, however there are reoccurring coded messages and the occasional voices speaking Russian. The theories of what these signals really are range from far fetched threats to hoaxes and accidents. The potential consequences of these signals may never be fully understood. Whatever the intention, it is clear that the manipulation of signals and frequencies only continues to increase globally. Currently there is something interfering with or jamming GPS signals in Eastern Europe. It has had a direct effect on civilian air travel in multiple nations. It is known that this jamming signal is coming from within the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Take a look at these articles in POLITICO and Air & Space Force to learn more.

Eternal Vision Part II

Eternal Vision Part II, The Last Operator

The Last Operator

The landscape is a natural barren wasteland. A near monochromatic world where everything is covered with a fine red dust. Not very different from the countless depictions of the planet Mars in science fiction stories. But this is not the red planet, this is Earth, in a not so distant future. Anything green in this place has long since dried out to dust and blown away. Here we find the last of the human advisors to the eternal vision drones, looking out over an all too familiar landscape. Just ahead is an old communications relay post. The operator sends the drone out ahead to get an advanced look at the area. Machine Vision reveals all, transmitted directly to the operator's AR (augmented reality) goggles from an encrypted link to the drone. Human vision, augmented by the electro-optical sensors of the drone in real time. Day or night, the night vision and thermal imaging of this system are extremely accurate.

These posts were once a symbol of the total surveillance state that prevailed during the end times. As part of a global deterrence system, these stations monitored all of the communications in the surrounding area. Now they are simple time capsules, waiting to be found. Most of the time they have been completely picked over by scavengers long ago. But this post somehow looks untouched. Is it possible that any of these systems still work? What will be gleaned from the remnants of civilization lost?

The Last Operator, mixed media with 3D printing, 9 x 6 x 7 inches 1:150 scale, 2024

killer drones are here to stay

Drone swarms are real and it is only a matter of time before we see them in action. This is something that has been in the works for a long time and is only now becoming more of a public conversation. The “collective mind” has been a theme of science fiction for even longer. If you are interested in learning more, check out these two written pieces about this reality.

New York Times piece on killer drones from 2023 HERE

Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists article from 2021 HERE

Origins

The screen becomes a portal into a relentless perception. Ceaseless scans seen through decaying vision. Congested atmospheres shroud savage ruinous landscapes, where the only equal to their horror is their beauty. Hints of sound emanate from the shadows around me. The detached views in front of me give access to a hunt, a search, a gathering of data. At what distance can I see this unfolding, this unrelenting visual interrogation? Fragments of schizophrenic familiarities only add to the displacement of a context. Is this the future or a romantic envisioning of another past? Multiple views only intensify the confusion of scale and lack of historical placement. I respond with unease to the possibilities envisioned from these views. The haunting emptiness of the subtle sounds maintains the curiosity of these in human landscapes. As I wait in anticipation for answers to my questions, I find myself searching, hunting for that critical rupture in the pattern. I’m looking for something that has not been seen.

MACHINE VISION

As technologies escalate and expand surveillance capabilities they dictate how we perceive and act simultaneously. We are witnessing the creation of a post-human vision that incorporates both the visible and invisible spectrums. This interminable vision has given us a false sense of control and institutes a union of the real and the virtual. Our current state of anxiety, insecurity and unease propels us to amplify our pursuit of more expansive autonomous systems that act on the immediacy of both actual and manufactured data. The reality of horror is deferred through the sterile views produced by this technology. Acting as global deterrents, these systems perpetuate an endless feedback loop suggesting the eventual breakdown of control, and ultimately, the decay of information itself.

These drawings are the culmination of a multidisciplinary process and a complex translation of my ideas. I’m using a CNC router as a drawing machine to create  images that blur the boundaries between contemporary technologies, photography and the traditions of drawing. Made entirely out of horizontal lines these intricate landscapes appear digitized and contain glitches and artifacts of the process which clearly reference interlaced video and the aesthetic of surveillance. Revealed within these ruinous worlds are the technologies of surveillance and communications juxtaposed with the weapons and systems related to global conflicts past and present. This visual combination speaks to the tensions between what we find beautiful and what terrifies us.

Missile Defenses, Landscape 013