On Wednesday, June 19, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design will open A Quiet Disposition, an exhibition of five research-based projects by artist, writer, publisher, and technologist James Bridle, on the subject of drone warfare. Bridle uses publicly accessible resources technologies including Google Maps, social networks and installations to investigate, visualize, and call attention to otherwise unexamined information about the worldwide military application of unmanned aerial vehicles. The exhibition will include prints, computer installations, and a model of a “drone identification kit.”

Bridle is known for coining the term “The New Aesthetic,” describing the increasing appearance of the visual language of digital technology and the Internet in the physical world.

The exhibition anticipates the opening of WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath (June 29–September 29, 2013), a landmark exhibition of conflict photography from the Mexican-American War through present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The exhibition debuts on the East Coast at the Corcoran.

"The issues addressed in this exhibition are of pressing concern to me, and hopefully to others, both in their examination of contemporary warfare but also their wider implications for society's relationship to technology,” said Bridle. “I greatly appreciate the Corcoran's support in raising them, particularly in such a relevant location, just blocks from the White House."

The title of Bridle’s exhibition refers to “The Disposition Matrix,” a private U.S. government database for generating “capture” and “kill” lists used to implement international drone strikes. A Quiet Disposition impresses upon viewers that, as humans, our actions speak louder than do our words.

Each project of the exhibition—“A Quiet Disposition,” “Watching the Watchers,” “UAV Identification Kit 001,” “Dronestagram,” and “Drone Shadow 004”—addresses a different aspect of how drone warfare is visualized. Monitor displays, mounted prints, and a site-specific installation create a layered experience for the viewer.

Bridle’s work and his articulation of “disposition” exist at the intersection of technology, culture, and warfare. In 2011, he coined the term “New Aesthetic,” which covers a range of strategies that artists use to appropriate digital images in the 21st century. (In NEXT at the Corcoran, the recent exhibition of graduating students’ work, a number of works embraced New Aesthetic themes.) His ongoing research around this subject—reflected in A Quiet Disposition—has been featured and discussed worldwide.

Coinciding with the opening of his Corcoran exhibition, Bridle will present a lecture on his work on June 19 at 7:00 p.m. A reception in Gallery 31 will follow. For more about the exhibition, visit http://www.corcoran.edu/exhibitions/quiet-disposition. Admission to the exhibition, in the Corcoran’s Gallery 31 exhibition space, is free and open to the public during regular museum hours.

James Bridle’s work examines the intersections between literature, technology and is presented in forums both online and offline. He is based in London, UK, and has exhibited his work internationally in the UK, Netherlands, USA, Switzerland, France, and China. Recent exhibitions of his work include “Coded Conduct” at Pilar Corrias, London and the third installation of his Drone Shadow at the Brighton Festival.

He has written for WIRED, ICON, Domus, Cabinet, the Atlantic and many other publications, and writes a regular column for the Observer newspaper on publishing and technology. To learn more about the artist, visit http://booktwo.org/.

JAMES BRIDLE: A QUIET DISPOSITION

June 19–July 7, 2013