speculative contextual coloring book (20pgs) + audiotape
/ in collaboration with Sanja Anđelković

sound design, composition

Q-UGV is a term used for the new Ghost Robotics dog (or wolf) look-alike warfare drones. Its users write: “The purpose of the Quad-legged Unmanned Ground Vehicles, or Q-UGVs, is to add extra protection to the base. The robot dogs, designed by Ghost Robotics and Immersive Wisdom, are the first of their kind to be integrated into a military installation and one of many innovation-based initiatives to begin at Tyndall AFB”. The work Service dog examines this extension of a term and the occupation “service dog” represents. With current geopolitical and corporate developments, the metaphor “man’s best friend” or “service dog” takes a different turn. The possible beginning of decentralization of necropolises and warfare mirrors these techno-animistic extensions. The work Service dog uses Dorothy Harrison Eustis and the Story of the Seeing Eye as a historic reference but extends to the present day and looks into new developments around “dog companions”. The work tells a speculative kids’ story in the shape of a coloring book (which was illustrated with an AI that was trained through the Seeing Eye and Jack London’s Call of the Wild texts) about a Q-UGV who, before going into warfare, has to familiarize itself with “unspoiled” human life aka children. The story questions the ability of the AI to learn, understand, or change its mind while being in the position to kill.

The work contains a coloring book and an audio-tape.