Theater of Drones
2013
Public banner installation
LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph
Charlottesville, Virginia
In 2013, Charlottesville became the first city in the United States to pass a resolution against the use of drones in local airspace. Prominent activists against domestic and military drones live in the city. In Theater of Drones, banners were installed on a fence connecting the town's popular pedestrian mall to City Hall. They detail advancements in drone technology and usage for both warfare and domestic surveillance. Included are disturbing statistics about the use of drones in current wars in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Information on government-funded research and development in the United States and Britain is underscored by a running image strip documenting the myriad types of drones, from seemingly innocuous ones mostly used domestically for surveillance to larger models used in airstrikes abroad.