Carrier, 2023
Two-channel video sculpture.
”Forging/Foraging” group exhibition.
NARS Foundation Main Gallery, Brooklyn, New York.
06.02.2023-06.21.2023
In an exercise of remote sensing, racing pigeons equipped with body cams survey the streets of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. As they lift, drag and thrust in flight, their swirling flocking patterns produce glitched images with every wing flap, contrasting the ubiquitous and detached renderings of Google Earth imaging and drone footage.
In 1907, Dr Julius Neubronner harnessed a camera to his carrier pigeon, marking the birth of aerial photography and ultimately reframing how we see the world. Having created the first “drone” – then co-opted for reconnaissance during WWI – his scientific curiosity anticipates GPS mapping, contemporary surveillance, and drone warfare. Technological capacity coupled with avian sensitivity, Carrier (2023) is an experimental collaboration between animal, machine and human, exploring the agency, intelligence and entanglement of more-than-human ecologies.