Come On Buddy

This work explores our relationship with language. Be it: vernacular, visual and or the language of pop-advertising culture. It questions language as a carrier or receptor of meaning. How does our emotional response to language shift according to the: information, knowledge and context we have access to?

What does our usage and response to language expressed in the context of war or entertainment tell us about ourselves? Apathy, thrill, empathy or shock? Where is that line between the language of war and that of entertainment drawn? Or have the two now collapsed? This work as a whole investigates the spectacle of war and the blurring or disappearance of this line for both the spectator and likewise for the participants such as the military.

On the surface these pieces appear to be benign popular-gaming or blockbuster promo spots, but when investigating the source of the dialogue the visuals take on a new hue. The phrases are lifted from U.S. helicopter footage released by WikiLeaks titled: Collateral Murder.

The repetition of these images, adding to the volume of colour and noise, at first appear overwhelming, but ultimately might reach saturation point, a point of desensitization for the spectator. This in turn mimics the processes of the mainstream media output; for promotional campaigns and news alike. Dramatic entertainment stories are repeated across channels on high rotation for immediate consumption; before the story is dropped in an instant in favor of a new spectacle to saturate the tv and online front pages.