The Teleology of War II

by Disphotic

‘Die horribly on television and you will not have died in vain,

you will have entertained us’

-Kurt Vonnegut

Amongst several projects I’m currently working on is one exploring the depiction of conflict on television. Its a massive expansion of one I began while I was studying for my MA which explored the relationship between media depictions of war and weapons, and the actual effect of these weapons on human bodies. This is likely to form one ‘chapter’ within the larger body of work.

What I’m really interested in the idea that war is becoming ever more televisual in the way it is fought (cameras integrated into a growing number of weapons, carried by soldiers themselves legitimately and illicitly) and in the way it is viewed (closing distinction and time space between fact and fiction appearing on screens).  At the moment the project is a flurry of different ideas that are slowly coming to rest and finding their place in an order.