Existing comment:
Drones
In the photographic series Untitled (Drones) and the video Drone Vision, Paglen continues his investigation of the sky as a politicized space. The video presents footage recorded by a drone. The source material was intercepted from an open channel on a communication satellite and is now in the public domain. Paglen edited the footage to focus on moments when the drone takes a wide view of the landscape. In doing so, he seems to give the machine a human perspective and aesthetic sensibility. Similarly, in the Untitled (Drones) photographs, Paglen diminishes the threat of the unmanned aerial vehicles by focusing instead on the vast skies they occupy. The Predator and Reaper drones are mere specks amidst a field of color captured by Paglen's camera. The pictures emphasize the wonder of looking while still subtly referencing the instruments that gaze upon us. |