The art of Lyke and war: Professor’s prints spark dialogue on drone ethics

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Author: Malcolm MacLeod

Known by students and faculty for her printmaking expertise, Professor Linda Lyke’s most recent work aims to foster discussion about one of the world’s most controversial technologies: unmanned drones.

“Printmaking has historically gone hand in hand with political commentary,” Lyke said.

It is no wonder, then, that Professor Lyke has a long history of politically driven work. Lyke was attending Kent State University as a graduate student on May 4, 1970 when National Guard soldiers opened fire, killing four students protesting the military presence in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Letters from sympathizers around the world poured into the university. School administrators shared these letters with Lyke, whose work was inspired by the shooting.

“It was then that many of us [artists] became disillusioned with the government and warfare,” Lyke said.

Lyke describes the aftermath of the Kent State shootings as a military state in which students’ privacy and freedoms were jeopardized by the military presence on campus. That memory serves as a source of inspiration for her current political pieces. Lyke would go on to create works about the Gulf Oil Spill, and is now turning her attention toward drone warfare.

“The use of unmanned drones raises so many important ethical and political questions. I hope my work can encourage a dialogue,” Lyke said.

One of Lyke’s most distinct works takes the form of a massive print to be wrapped around the entire space of a room, literally entrapping the viewer at the room’s center. Lyke created the print using relief techniques, in which the artist carves out a pattern in a wood block, covers the pattern in black ink and runs the wood through a printing press. This transfers the carved pattern into an image on paper. Using this technique, Lyke carved out the natural, elliptical pattern of wood grain into a smooth block. Over this stark black and white pattern Lyke scattered a number of red drone images, each printed with varying degrees of transparency.

“I wanted the grain of the wood to resemble sound waves or a topographical map,” Lyke said.

Lyke’s drone artwork aims to open a dialogue about the unethical aspects of drone warfare while at the same time encouraging viewers to consider the positive potential of such technologies. Lyke believes that in the same way that cell phones completely changed human communication, drone warfare will fundamentally alter the way humans conduct surveillance and war. Whether those changes will foster positive or negative societal dynamics will depend on the government’s ethical use of this technology. Reflecting the moral grey area in which drone warfare resides, Lyke’s portrayal of drones ranges from subtle to stark.

“Drones definitely have some positive uses, such as finding missing persons during, say, a fire or a flood,” Lyke said. “They have also been used to track animal migration patterns and measure the recession of ice flows in the Arctic.”

Exploring the peaceful potential of unmanned drones in a proposed installation piece, Lyke printed drone images on paper cut to resemble Buddhist prayer flags, which she would hang in an outdoor space. The goal of this piece is to encourage people to support the ethical, non-violent use of drones in opposition to the death stemming from present day drone use.

Throughout Lyke’s work, the human element is noticeably missing. Drones are used both for direct attacks on people and surveillance. Although these activities have major impacts upon human lives, Lyke feels that the subdued nature of drones themselves remove any necessity for her to include depictions of humanity within her work. Drones function without warning or consent, while their pilots sit protected in a room, often thousands of miles away. Though those pilots do not experience the consequences of their actions first hand, the public is forced to look upon them regularly.

“We see so many images of death and destruction in the media; we’ve become desensitized to it,” Lyke said.

The drone serves as an ominous and enigmatic symbol, by which terror and deception are implied, not shown. Lyke’s symbolic representation of drones allows patrons to consider them objectively, which Lyke hopes will encourage discussion among students and faculty.

Facilitating that discussion is professor Derek Shearer, an adamant supporter of Lyke’s work. Shearer, who has Lyke originals hanging in his office and home, admires Lyke as both an artist and a colleague.

“I’ve always loved Linda’s work. She’s really been an asset to the creative community here as long as I’ve known her. I always giver her work as gifts and want to share her talent whenever I can,” Shearer said.

Professor Lyke hopes to take a sabbatical abroad so that she can focus on her work and explore the complexities of drone usage. Upon her return, Occidental students will have an opportunity to see her completed works and contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the future use of unmanned drones.

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