Srianta
Alex Sinclair

This project details a criticism of the ongoing use of Shannon Airport by US Military. It follows a fictional narrative depicting the worst possible scenario for Ireland being complicit in aiding the US fight wars in the Middle East. The narrative follows a group of protesters who gain access to the runway aiming to damage a US plane en route from Kuwait. The protesters manage to enter the cargo hold of the plane where they damage a refrigerated unit containing samples of a biological weapon. A strain of influenza, known colloquially as the Millipede virus, takes shape in the landscape of Ireland.

Using a critical framework for developing a collection of media, the project aims to address issues regarding information classification and the role of transparency within our dealings with the US. The association with a state that has imprisoned Private Bradley Manning, a whistleblower on war crimes committed during operations in Iraq, is pushed to the forefront. This project provides a body of evidence, both constructed and real, examining contemporary injustices of foreign policy.

The work is comprised of two parts. The first is a book detailing life in Ireland during the Millipede virus epidemic. This book is a selection of image media chronicling the events that lead to the outbreak as well as the delay in truth regarding the origins of the virus as a by-product of Ireland’s involvement with the US through Shannon Airport. The second aspect of the project is a sculptural installation in the National Photo Archive. This highlights the mistreatment of Private Manning and will coincide with his trial due to start on June 2nd.

Alex Sinclair has lived in the same seaside town in Ireland all his life. He grew up in the local punk scene where he learned a DIY-ethos which he has retained to this day. He graduated with a B.A. in Photography from Dublin Institute of Technology, specialising his final year in fictional narrative construction in news media while writing his thesis on Stephen Shore’s seminal photobook American Surfaces.