I spy with my military eye :strategies of military vision and their use in fine art practice

Abstract

This research deals with specific aspects of the relationship between artistic and military practices through military vision and visioning technologies, and explores these both within and through a fine art practice. In particular, it examines their impact on subjectivity and objectivity, and how these can be analyzed and synthesized through fine art practice. The research indicates that art practice may be the most useful method of critiquing militarism, as a result of its acknowledgment and embrace of shifting positions. The thesis comprises two sections running concurrently on recto and verso pages, in a layout that echoes the constant dialogue of theory and practice. The thesis is conceived as a ‘serious game’ in itself, and the methodology of game playing, shifting identities, provocations and interruptions (all of which constitute the foundation of fieldcraft, particularly the skills of camouflage) is visible throughout. The authorial voice slips from the academic to the conversational as the subjectivity of the researcher becomes evident in the text. The verso section consists of three main chapters, all of which examine subjectivity and objectivity through their respective frameworks and through the prism of practice. It surveys weaponry, devices and strategies created for the purpose of looking. It traces the military intention at the heart of apparently unrelated technologies, and defines four interpretive regimes emerging from these correspondences.