bennettmorrisstudio

natures inevitable redemption

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Natures Inevitable Redemption (Eternal Vision - Drone 1001)

Mixed media with 3d printing, 11in x 11in x 8in, 2024 (detail view)

I’ve never worked on a single piece for as long as I did on this one. When I started it in 2022 I had a crystal clear vision in my mind as to what I was making and how the final piece would look. Much to my surprise the more I worked, the more specific and articulate I got with materials the further I got from seeing the final piece come together. Each new detail set higher expectations for the next. The piece was certainly growing and evolving based on what it needed to become through my intuitions. However, once I started on the foliage, it was immediately evident to me that the end was near. My vision of a landscape that was truly overgrown and reclaimed by nature was finally coming together.

This piece depicts a moment in the Eternal Vision story in the far future. It speaks to the idea that all technology eventually becomes obsolete. The notion that nature will eventually prevail and reclaim all it once had. That decay and decomposition will always be beautiful. Nothing is free from the feedback loop of destruction and regrowth, not even technology.

Check back soon for a full gallery of images of the piece and a more elaborate explanation.

eternal vision drone 1002

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Eternal Vision Drone 1002 poster

Somewhere in a distant future, an omnipresent deterrence system reaches beyond the horizon. What was once sold on the utopian ideal of endless peace and security through total surveillance evolved into a system of total control. The presence of continuous observation forced whoever was left deep into hiding sometime long ago. Echoes of the present begin to emerge from the fragments.


anti-detection / anti-interception

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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

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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.

The Last Operator

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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

the clues are all around us

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Cellular communication towers, patriot missile batteries, primitive spears and lances, radar dishes, the ostankino tower and nike missiles, antenna of all types. These are a few of the of the very specific things you will see in my landscapes. Everything I include has a purpose and everything relates to the content or the ideas that I hope these places inspire in the viewer. I have been told at times that these ideas are prescient, but how I see it, this is how it has always been and will always be. The feedback loop is the same, the technology is what advances. Is this not what we always desire?

mini card detail

DISTANCE Works on Paper by Skowhegan Alumni includes two machine drawings

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D O R S K Y G A L L E R Y Curatorial Programs is pleased to announce

Distance, curated by Betsy Alwin and Steve Locke

Opening on Sunday, February 17, 2019 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and remaining on view through April 7, 2019.

Curators Steve Locke and Betsy Alwin organized their exhibition around the concept of distance in dialogue with divisions in the contemporary moment. Solmaz Sharif’s poem “LOOK,” which explores consequences that result from perceptions of difference and distance, served as inspiration for both the curators and the artwork in the show. This led to a very specific conception of social, political and tactile distance, represented by 57 artists from 18 states, 9 countries and a 60 year span of Skowhegan alumni: Kim Abraham, Alejandro Acierto, Lauren Adams, Negar Ahkami, Colleen Asper, Rebecca Baldwin, Keren Benbenisty, Caitlin Berrigan, Suzanne Broughel, Derrick Buisch, Neil Callander, Greg Chann, Sue Collier, Oliver Comerford, Karishma D’Souza, Anthony Craig Drennen, Jesse England, Nicholas Fraser, Baris Gokturk, Rachel Granofsky, Mark Haddon, Russell Hamilton, Katie Herzog, Carol Blaser, Saskia Jorda, Courtney Jordan, Nils Karsten, Becky Kinder, Baxter Koziol, Shaun Leonardo, Anthony Lepore, Cyriaco Lopes, Colin McMullan DBA Emcee C.M., Master of None, Nat Meade, Alex Morris, Helina Metaferia, Nyeema Morgan, Bennett Morris, Ester Partegás, Carol Pepper-Cooper, Bundith Phunsombatlert, Marilyn Propp, Hanneline Røgeberg, Sherrill Roland, Michelle Rosenberg, Annesofie Sandal, Amanda Schoppel, Austin Shull, Molly Springfield, Draga Šušanj, Elizabeth Tubergen, Traci Tullius, Tabitha Vevers, Robert Wechsler, Yoav Weinfeld, and Jane Westrick.

Missile Defenses, Landscape 010

Missile Defenses, Landscape 010

Missile Defenses, Landscape 019

Missile Defenses, Landscape 019

Thanks

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Thanks to everyone who came out to the opening of Machine Vision at The Press Hotel. It was a wonderful crowd filled with friends from all over. I’m especially grateful to have the opportunity to show so many of the drawings in one place. The full breadth of the series is visible with so many of them together. Extra thanks to the staff at the hotel for all of the work they put in to make the opening so special. 

Missile Defenses, Landscape 01x

Missile Defenses, Landscape 01x

New ideas take hold as the old ones try to hang on...

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As each new piece is finished it is hard to not ask myself what is next. For me it’s a natural tendency to want to start or resolve something new. One of the things I do to counter that is to look closely at what I have made for potentially previously unseen variations or experiments within the parameters of the process. Currently I’m continuing the Machine Drawings series, while starting to experiment with some new ideas. The focus of the current drawings is to amplify and expand on some of the nuances or unique qualities of the previous drawings from the series. I’m specifically working with a more narrow color palette to a few quieter landscapes that have more atmosphere. Simultaneously I’m experimenting with translating the drawings into dimensional objects. I’ve started by using the laser cutter to cut out and etch lines into the layers of the drawings. I will be using colored acrylic plastics with varying densities or etched lines on them. It is critical that these pieces take on not just the photographic qualities of the drawings, but also some of the interactions between line and shape. I’m not exactly sure where this will lead or what the final piece(s) will be. Possibly some kind of shadow box, infinity space or illuminated diorama…

Studio sketches

Studio sketches