Can infrared (IR) camera technologies create a cyborg perception that expands both visual and imaginary worlds? In Cyborg Perception, I explore possibilities to change the present by imagining other futures using infrared (IR) technology in processes inspired by improvisational cinema, spiral and fragmentary storytelling, and speculative fiction. The research uses knowledge and strategies from Techno and Cyborg feminisms as well as speculative fiction.
The IR image has been chosen because, through technology, it can make visible a spectrum of light beyond human perception. Just like how utopia nowadays seems to lie outside of our imagination. IR cameras have been developed and refined by military research and war technology as well as many other technologies used to create moving images. Nowadays it is implemented in areas such as space imaging, surveillance cameras, forests monitoring and satellite sensing.
The PhD consists of three artistic components exploring infrared video. The first is a speculative multimedia work by Whyte & Zettergren exploring infrared space imaging and reimagination games. The second is a post-apocalyptic short film, shot at former military sites in Finland and Sweden, reflecting on vegetation overtaking the sites and the military heritage of infrared technology. The third repurposes infrared heat sensitivity as a tool for connection and care, explored through performance and a futuristic role-playing game.
The research and learnings from the artistic components will be documented in the text-based part of the thesis, along with texts on technofeminism, infrared video, and reimagining the future through technology. This research project aims to address the violent legacies of technological development and explore feminist strategies to repurpose them, topics particularly relevant to the Nordic region with its significant tech and weapons industries.