The State of Play (2012-4)
Images of the violence of social upheaval and war have become so commonplace that it is unremarkable to see them in print, on news broadcasts or on the internet. Accordingly the images collected here do not concentrate upon one single event as they are a meditation upon the framing of such content. The images use a process of interlacing to present a third image, one that resists the normative presentation in order to question this process of desensitization. The imagery is all pulled from the internet as screenshots, a factor that is central to the intent of the work. The images are not manipulated or edited in terms of content, quality or pixel dimension, in order to retain the integrity of the original imagery, ensuring the transparency of the image source. This also allows a critical appraisal of the way these framing structures coexists within the larger structure of hyper-capital. The continuation of advertising is relentless, and on these images, very evident within the fabric of highly distressing imagery. The ultimate effect of mass desensitization is a progressively increased tolerance level for permanent war.
