Predator Bronze, 5:00 TRT
Predator Bronze draw from footage created during recent conflicts, most of it recorded from U.S. or ‘coalition’ aircraft. This footage was created using public funds and as such where it is not classified, it is made freely available to the public through various archives such as the Defense Video and Image Distribution System created by the U.S. military’s Defense Media Activity. In this work videos are placed one atop the other creating undulating unified landscapes; axes of time and space that are meticulously indexed in the source archive are here collapsed into a simultaneous and continuous plane.
The formal qualities of the pieces serve to distract from the content of the source material, creating an oscillating condition of apprehension and misapprehension. This echoes American society’s relationship with endless war as background noise; even when you seem to grasp a whole, the specificity and context of any given image remains elusive.
Wiley Aker’s work in video, sound, and new media explores the psychological landscapes that mediate reality in the post-internet world. A Pennsylvania native, he currently lives and works in New Orleans, Louisiana.
17 Days Video Series 