The visual language of war, violence, and terror is directly yoked to the tech innovations that mirror and propel mass media and its funhouse-mirror twin: propaganda. Can the bursting of bombs be enjoyed without collateral damage?
Fragments of Engagement brings us directly into this line of questioning. Do these images reenact memories of the battlefield or are they “real” captures of the world at war? Do you love the smell of napalm in the morning? Or do you just enjoy the Francis Ford Coppola-esque celluloid evocation of it?
Foulkes’s work underscores the fact that differences between the two have been reduced to such a degree that it’s not only difficult to tell but also difficult not to feel a chilling degree of thrill at the spectacular explosions and the cool digital rendering of fleeing figures in night-vision monotone.
– Leslie A. Martin, Creative Director, Aperture Magazine