Re: [-empyre-] psychogeographies - opening statement

[Brett Stalbaum <beestal@cadre.sjsu.edu>]

Regarding the "neutral" representation of the weather, I am reminded of
Crandall's statement "Where the terrestrial image has an object, the
aerial image has a target." (Anything that Moves: Armed Vision)
"[T] he projectile-gaze captures its object, freezes it, holds it in a tracking
mode, intercourses it, obliterates it, couches it in a mechanism of
protection." Would I be stretching the case to note that Teri's
observation about something as initially innocuous as the visualizations
given in a (battlefield) weather report can be connected to the "projectile
gaze" in such way that we could reasonably say that such images are
representations bound to a "tracking mode... obliterate[ing]... couch[ed]
in a mechanism of protection"; or perhaps even a visual proxy for
US/British/Australian foreign policy? I am not sure.

But I had a telling experience the other day. I don't own a television, so
my interface to this war's media is mostly through radio and news sites on
the web. But I did actually experience the same "battlefield weather
reports" that Teri refers to, but instead of in my home, it was embedded
in a multi-media enabled gasoline pump, pumping both petrol into my truck,
and the latest war analysis by Wolf Blitzer (followed by the battlefield
weather), into myself. That we can see CNN reporting the war on a video
screen in our gas pumps is yet another example of why it is so hard to be
an artist today, especially if you work ironically. I was struck by the
notion that the pump would make a great installation in a gallery space,
as a readymade.

But I live in the United States, which is rapidly becoming an irony-free
zone.

On Thu, 3 Apr 2003, Teri Rueb wrote:

!--clip --

> Given the theme of this month's discussion and the recent outbreak of
> war with Iraq, I am compelled to give the discussion over to
> questions of psycho-geographies and data landscapes as they relate to
> war.  More than any other war, we are seeing satellite imaging and
> GPS technology used to guide missiles, construct high definition
> data-embedded maps, direct movement of troops and aircraft, and image
> space as territory.  Questions regarding the representation of space
> and corollary constructions of identity are raised with every
> broadcast, press briefing, illustration and photograph.  Real-time
> unpacking of the rhetoric behind these cartographic texts and tactics
> is urgently needed.  I look forward to this month's forum unfolding
> as a space for such discussion and debate.
>
> As I wrote this last paragraph last week I was thinking especially of
> the "battlefield weather reports" on CNN which have used
> sophisticated satellite imagery to create almost video game-like
> graphics of "cold fronts moving in from the north," etc..  It strikes
> me as a particularly insidious use of "neutral" data to present very
> biased, if not propagandistic, representations of the war.  Perhaps
> this might serve as a starting point for our discussion - if not, I
> would certainly appreciate triangulation on this observation off line
> or in any other format!
>