From the aerial views provided by militarized hot air balloons in the 18th century to the synchronized camera/machine-guns of World War I to the contemporary sensing operations of military drones, perception has always been linked to destruction. As Paul Virilio observed, “the function of the weapon is the function of the eye.” Militarized nation-states understand this keenly, which is why a vast array of visual media, including photography, film, television, advertising, and video games have been deployed to help shape public perceptions of war, death, and atrocity. Today, as the so-called war on terror continues indefinitely, and Israel’s livestreamed assault on Gaza enters its third year, war has become simultaneously omnipresent, highly mediated, and yet in other ways routinely hidden from public view.
This course explores the complex intersections of war and visuality through theoretical texts, cultural analysis, case studies, and artistic projects. We begin by tracing a genealogy of the martial gaze, asking: How did historical fantasies of sensing, mapping, and imaging evolve into modern techniques of remote surveillance and targeting? What ties exist between technologies of modern weaponry and those of image production? We then turn to the political and ethical implications of seeing, sharing, and reproducing images of war. How do such images function as evidence, as calls to action, or as part of an economy of humanitarian sentimentalism? Finally, we examine how modern warfare is rationalized, remembered, and produced across image-based media such as electronic games, video, and photography. How do methods of simulation and documentation transmit truth claims about modern war and security? How has the virtualization of war refigured links between technology, politics and violence? Readings may include works by Judith Butler, Jean Baudrillard, Eyal Weizman, Nicholas Mirzoeff, Ariella Azoulay, Saidiya Hartman, and W.J.T. Mitchell, among others. We will also look at artistic works by Jananne Al-Ani, Heems, Rabih Mroué, Hito Steyerl, and Forensic Architecture.
