Technological Landscapes
Technological Landscapes is an experimental, interdisciplinary research group focusing on the intersection of place, landscape and technology. Participants in Technological Landscapes are passionate but critical observers of today’s physical and virtual environment in relation to ubiquitous, integrated, and emerging technologies.
Site: Quonset Point Naval Air Station, Rhode Island, USA
Quonset Point Naval Air Station was established in 1941, shortly before the US entered World War II. It served as the major naval base during the war and well into the Cold War. The base was decommissioned on June 28, 1974.
Though some of Quonset's military buildings were demolished following the base's closure, numerous remaining structures still convey the magnitude of the site. At the time of our visit, Quonset Point was a mix of newer, functional hangers, a modern looking terminal and air traffic control tower, well-kept hangers as well as hangers falling into disrepair. In a fenced off area near the largest of old the hangers we found old bomber planes in various states of decay, some seemingly stripped bare, museum-like explanatory signs, rusting fuel drums, torpedo shells and replica bombs, as well as all manor of metal detritus haphazardly stacked on wooden pallets. Further out on the airfield were a few small rises in the land, possibly encapsulating old bunkers or bomb shelters whose doors were sealed and next to which sat a five gallon pail full of rusted bullet casings, and a large container with a painted sign that read “bomb disposal”. The remainder of the field was wildly unremarkable, just another air field situated on a flat marshy plane and surrounded by a chain link fence.
Snarge
As my research progressed within TechLands, I quickly became aware of the complicated habitat that is an airfield. That machines for the sky, birds and planes, like to live in the same place should be no surprise, but the tenuous relationship between these different bodies, the ill-followed regulations, the gambit of deterrents, and the complete inability for either to usefully communicate to the other guided me toward an analog technological approach to wildlife hazard mitigation.
SNARGE
Snarge is a term for the remains of a bird after a collision with an aircraft, such as feathers, blood, and tissue.The term is used by scientists who analyze these remains to identify the bird species involved in a "bird strike".
Public Domain Images, United States Department of Agriculture
DETERRANTS
Without any real means of communication, humans have resorted to all manor of deterrents to use against birds to frighten them out of airplane habitat. While some methods prove to be successful for a time, the birds who share this habitat often become desensitized to the different methods, resulting in continued bird-strikes, despite best efforts.
