Included in Parts & Labour, the second Animate OPEN, online from 1 April to 30 May 2016 only.

Ascension Ceiling was inspired by Baroque illusionistic painting and explores the omnipotent viewpoint of drone operators.

The work is a response to the continued use of local airspace for the testing of military drones based at the West Wales Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) centre in Aberporth, near the artist’s home. It uses audio testimony from military UAV operators, particularly that of former US Air Force pilot Brandon Bryant, who served as a sensor operator for the Predator programme from 2007 to 2011. It explores questions of observation and complicity, constructing an animated re-imagining of the world ‘Di sotto in sù’ (seen from below).