The Patrol
2018
Performance, photographs, camera, flash, slide film

Earlier this year, I took part in a two month ‘artist in residence’ program which took place in an abandoned factory. Before the residency, I was pre-warned that staying overnight would be “at your own risk”. The site manager also mentioned that several criminal activities had taken place here after the factory was shut down. The combination of these two pieces of information piqued my interest, and became the main focus of my work during my time there.

In The Patrol I use the flash of my camera to survey the surroundings of the factory during the darkness of night. I ‘shoot’ to reveal my presence and ward off potential intruders. Due to the intention of my technique, I do not need to use the viewfinder. Using an analogue system emphasizes the camera’s weapon-like elements. Much like a gun or similar form of defense, the apparatus requires you to manually ‘load’ before ‘shooting’, suggesting an aggressive act taking place.