“The proliferation of machinery is what concerns and torments me, it comes slowly closer like a thunderstorm; but it is on its way, it will come and strike us. People are thinking and talking about it, and neither thinking nor talking can be of help. For who indeed would care to envisage such terrors! […]. In this situation there are only two courses to pursue, the one as sad as the other; we can either take up what is new ourselves and accelerate the process of decline, or we can set off, taking the best and most deserving people with us and seeking a more favourable destiny overseas. Either course has its disadvantages, but who will help us to consider the reasons that should determine our action?”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, extract from Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years, or the Renunciants, 1821.

Heavily influenced by current events, the exhibition explores the contemporary discourse on drone usage, examining the intersection of technology, labour, and warfare through the lens of three artists spanning two decades.
The exhibition features works by the late German filmmaker Harun Farocki (b. 1944– d. 2014), which are exhibited alongside two contemporary artists whose personal lives have been greatly affected by war: It is the first exhibition of works by Ukrainian artist Violetta Oliinyk (b. 1995) in Germany, and the first presentation of a series of images of drones from the war in Ukraine by award-winning photographer Johanna Maria Fritz (b. 1994).

In addition to the artworks, two complementary installations were added: firstly, FPV goggles are available, allowing visitors to experience first-person footage of drone vision. Unlike the abstract, data-heavy images Farocki critiqued two decades prior, these user-friendly visuals raise urgent questions about the shifting aesthetics and ethics of machine-made images. How does this evolution – from abstract Operational Images to explicit HD drone footage – alter our understanding of warfare and its visual representation? Secondly, a complete assembly of drone parts is mounted to the wall, serving as an infographic to allow the viewer insights into the manual labour process of FPV drone building.

Together, these works create a conclusive narrative that connects the production and utilization of drones, reflecting on the labour behind the technology and the visual culture surrounding modern warfare. This exhibition invites critical reflection on how increasing accessibility to drone technology and imagery affects public perception and detachment from violence.

For the exhibition bbc works closely with Antje Ehmann, partner and collaborator of Harun Farocki.

This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of the Kemmler Foundation, Violetta Oliinyk, Antje Ehmann, Johanna Maria Fritz, Simon Melchers of ARTCO Gallery, Eidotech GmbH and Sammlung Hoffmann/the Hoffmann Family. We are very grateful and deeply moved by the many individual efforts and supporters who offered their sweat, time and expertise to realise this exhibition.