What will happen when I die? Will I fly across the sun? Happen upon a dry valley and then curve in, getting closer and closer, like a suicide bomber, before I finally meet my target?
…What does love feel like?
These are just some of the questions that weigh down on the conscious of the Freestone Drone, the lovably zealous yet tormented protagonist of George Barber‘s new video installation, The Freestone Drone. Exploring the concept of a drone that is self-aware, the video in like an incredibly philosophical and avant-garde contemporary version of Thomas the Tank Engine (Barber explicitly references the affable little locomotive as a major inspiration for his piece).
Flying over Waziristan, New York, and England, in the midst of a seemingly endless war, the Freestone Drone becomes increasingly cognizant of his destructive purpose. Resist as he may, he knows that he cannot escape his fate: death by washing line entanglement. Oh yeah, he also somehow manages to transcend the space-time continuum. It’s some far-out, evocative, and timely stuff. Watch the first segment of the video installation, which is currently showing at the waterside contemporary in London, above.
“The Freestone Drone,” George Barber, Feb 2- Mar 23, Waterside Contemporary, London
