future ruins

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, 2024

killer drones are here to stay

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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

digital ghosts

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corrupted data… incomplete file structure… error… error… error.

end of transmission

What does digital decay look like? As corruption compounds and data gets fragmented digital hallucinations begin to form. Paranoid thoughts of an artificial intelligence loosing its mind. Autonomous systems acting on lost transmissions and incomplete information drift towards total collapse.

some ideas are destined for the future

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In the studio I work on many things, often moving in many directions simultaneously. As I do this, I’m always focusing on the idea first and then what materials or medium to use to best articulate that idea. Because of this, some ideas get set aside for a future version or iteration. Usually those ideas resurface when I see a potential in a new material or most often a new piece of technology. It has been about 15 years since I first took a took a class to explore the medium of 3D modeling. At that time my ideas and the technology didn’t align for some reason, time was shorter back then. Since that time I have used traditional sculpture and photography to articulate many of my ideas. Using analog techniques to create hyperreal views of what could be simply described as miniature movie sets. But now I find myself in that familiar moment again, when an idea resurfaces through exciting exploration in the studio. My recent research into 3d modeling, painting and texturing those models, 3d animation and augmented reality has really got me thinking. I can start to see some complex ideas coming together within this space. I also believe that asking questions of this digital work and how I can employ it will only make my analog work more dynamic and articulate as well. Check back to see what emerges from the past.

drone 1001a 3d landscape sketch

The Future Is The Past

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I have for a long time considered autonomous drones to be the future of surveillance and warfare. I wrote about this initially in 2006 in my graduate school thesis. I then only knew a fraction of what I know now to be true about the premonitions I had. As the war in Ukraine rages on for a second year, my ideas continue to be reaffirmed. Russia and Ukraine are caught in the feedback loop of a weapons race. The deployment and development of drones on the battlefield has now clearly fundamentally changed the entire battlefield. FPV drones that cost a fraction of the equipment they are used to destroy are a great example of this. Both sides are using these drones simultaneously for offensive and defensive applications. The operators of these drones are human, however the ambition to have swarms of autonomous drones on the battlefield before 2025 is real. UPDATE: The day after this post the Pentagon announced it’s “replicator program”… The goal is to produce thousands of inexpensive autonomous drones and have them in use within two years. Here is a link to a POLITICO article with more info. I’m sure more will come of this in the media.

Origins

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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.

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?

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