Theatre (v)
Date: 21st November 2008An immersive projection of an aeromed flight from Camp Bastion to Kandahar
In 2007, Cotterrell was commissioned by the Wellcome Collection to travel to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, with the assistance of the Ministry of Defence, to observe the work of the joint forces medical teams at Camp Bastion.
Theatre is an attempt to put into context the sense of abstraction Cotterrell experienced as a witness to the treatment received by combat trauma victims in the field hospital at Camp Bastion. The film relates to a flight made on the eve of Remembrance Day 2007, in which the artist accompanied a Critical Care Air Support Team during the night-time evacuation of a seriously injured soldier. Such flights are often only vaguely remembered by the sedated patient. Inside the belly of the Hercules transport plane, the juxtaposition of medical care and military hardware creates a strange environment. The flight offers a symbolic bridge between the trauma and confusion of the casualty station and the considered, long-term process of rehabilitation in the civilian healthcare system.
Theatre is a simulation of a simulation: a reconstruction of the last day of training for medical evacuation crews before they are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. It offers a rare glimpse of what is hidden from the public eye.
Materials:60 minute 5-Channel HD Video source. Warp generator, edge-blending and synchronisation hardware.
Categories:
Gallery , Installation , Irritant , Museum , Site Neutral , Temporary , VideoNews:
TheArtFund RUSI: Remembrance in a Modern Society - 10.03.10, David Cotterrell : Kino Eye, Bearing witness: the role of war artists in the 21st century - 26.10.09Bibliography:
A Heavy Reckoning: War, Medicine and Survival in Afghanistan and Beyond, War and Art : A Visual History of Modern Conflict, Dislocations, Uncontainable: Leonardo Electronic Alamanac, Art in the Danger Zone, War and Medicine, Krieg und Medizin, Transmission: Host, Bloody RealityExhibitions:
War and Medicine, Dislocations, Krieg und MedizinAwards:
War & Medicine : War Artist Commission, Interact Artists FellowshipTalks:
Bearing witness: the role of war artists in the 21st century, David Cotterrell on Afghanistan (v), BBC Radio 4 Today : Injury and Conflict (a), Army medics on the front-line (v), BBC Radio 4 : The Two Minute Silence (a), CNN : Another Side of War, RUSI : Subjective Views (a), David Cotterrell in Conversation, It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (v), TED : How I Almost Lost My Faith in Photography (v), Culture and Consequence, Culture in a Time of Conflict (a), Shared TerritoryDownloads:
War and Medicine : Artists Diary, David Cotterrell : Kino Eye, RSA Journal : Art and Conflict, TimeOut : Military Responses, War and Medicine : Interview Transcript, Guardian G2 : Bloody Reality, Guardian G2 : War & Medicine Review, RSA Lecture : Culture in a Time of ConflictReviews:
Financial Times : Battle on two fronts, ameliasmagazine.com : Theatre, Guardian G2 : Where science and art are encouraged to meet, Wall Street Journal : London art, Health Service Journal : Matter of life or death, The Times : A painful vision of healing in wartime, Yorkshire Post : The Silence That Still Resonates, BBC Radio 4 : Start the Week (a), Student British Medical Journal : War and Medicine, Lancet : The complexity of medicine and war, Sunday Telegraph : Conflict under the knife, Guardian : War and Medicine, London, Art Monthly : War and Medicine, telegraph.co.uk : ..staggering history of suffering, londonblog.com : War, what is it good for?, museums and heritage live.com : War artists trip to Afghanistan, mod.uk : War and medicine on the front line, londonist.com : War + Medicine, legion-magazine.co.uk : Artist explores war and medicine, fugitiveink : Salutary truth: 'War and Medicine' at the Wellcome Collection, frieze.com : War and Medicine, creativerevew.co.uk : Saving lives and losing lives, Saturday Review : War and Medicine, bbc.co.uk : The uneasy link between war and medicine, The Big Issue : Tools of Combat, British Medical Journal: War: what is it good for?, Amelia's Magazine : David CotterrellSponsors:
