David Thomas Smith’s works are compositions of thousands of digital files drawn from aerial views taken from internet satellite images, this work reflects upon the complex structures that make up the centres of global capitalism, transforming the aerial landscapes of sites associated with industries such as oil, precious metals, consumer culture information and excess. Thousands of seemingly insignificant coded pieces of information are sown together like knots in a rug to reveal a grander spectacle.
Questions of photographic and economic realities are further complicated through the formal use of patterns that have their origins in the ancient civilizations of Persia. This work draws upon the patterns and motifs used by Persian rug makers, especially the way Afghani weavers use the rug to record their experiences more literally with vivid images of the war torn land that surrounds them.
This collision between the old and the new, fact and fiction, surveillance and invisibility, is part of a strategy to reflect on the global order of things.
ANTHROPOCENE: ‘The term Anthropocene suggests that the Earth is now moving out of its current geological epoch, called the Holocene and that human activity is largely responsible for this exit from the Holocene, that is, that humankind has become a global geological force in its own right.’ – Paul Crutzen Composited from thousands of digital files drawn from aerial views taken from internet satellite images, this work reflects upon the complex structures that make up the centres of global capitalism, transforming the aerial landscapes of sites associated with industries such as oil, precious metals, consumer culture information and excess. Thousands of seemingly insignificant coded pieces of information are sown together like knots in a rug to reveal a grander spectacle. Questions of photographic and economic realities are further complicated through the formal use of patterns that have their origins in the ancient civilizations of Persia. This work draws upon the patterns and motifs used by Persian rug makers, especially the way Afghani weavers use the rug to record their experiences more literally with vivid images of the war torn land that surrounds them. This collision between the old and the new, fact and fiction, surveillance and invisibility, is part of a strategy to reflect on the global order of things.
ARECIBO: “Touching from a distance, further all the time…” – Ian Curtis
Exploration is deeply ingrained in the make up of human kind. Our struggle is that of contact. The Arecibo message was broadcast into space with the aim of reaching out to extraterrestrial life. The message was broadcast into space via frequency modulated radio waves at a ceremony to mark the remodeling of the Arecibo radio telescope on 16 November 1974.
It was aimed at the globular star cluster M13 some 25,000 light years away. The “ones” and “zeros” contained information about the fundamentals of life on Earth. The total broadcast was less than three minutes. By the time the message reaches M13 the star cluster will no longer be in that location, therefore, the real purpose of the message was not to make contact but to demonstrate the capabilities and advances of humanity. Arecibo is visual homage to the original message and a reflection on the birth of humanity, our growth and evolution. Each image in the series is a composite of thousands of Jpegs extracted from Google Maps. The landscapes distorted by patterns of light, both natural and man made, explore important punctuations in human history
Las Vegas, NV, United States of America
Printed 2009- 2010
Lambda Print mounted on clear Acrylic
120h x 80w cm
3 Edition Sizes: 6 (120h x 80w cm) : 2 (180h x 120w cm) : 1 (225h x 150w cm)
Unframed
€1690
Bronze Age: River Nile, Egypt – Some of the earliest foundations of civilisation
Printed 2009- 2010
Lambda Print mounted on clear Acrylic
109h x 72w cm
3 Edition Sizes: 6 (109h x 72w cm) : 2 (180h x 120w cm) : 1 (225h x 150w cm)
Unframed
€1690