Lewis William Bush

The Cold War ended in 1991, but its echoes can still be heard today. One example of this is Numbers stations, shortwave radio broadcasts of coded messages, believed to be intended for undercover agents in enemy states. Despite originating in the darkest days of the last century these transmissions continue today, with broadcasts occurring daily from locations inside countries including Russia, Cuba, and North Korea.

Shadows of the State is a photographic project by Lewis Bush which investigates these mysterious broadcasts and uses open source research techniques in an attempt to locate the likely transmitter sites of thirty of these stations. These sites are then mapped using high-resolution satellite imagery and displayed alongside radio spectrograms, audio recordings, and extensive information about each station.… (plus d'informations)

Documenting a theme park where European national landmarks are reproduced as scale models. Part funded by the European Union, the park showcases an idealised continent where once divided nations co-exist in peaceful harmony. The requirements of a tourist attraction however has created unintended juxtapositions between these models and their surroundings. The model crowds at momentous historical events are noticeably small, roads and bridges end abruptly in mid air, and the branding of corporate sponsors are incongruously inserted into the scenery. Even the selection of which monuments are included in the park reflects a very loaded sense of which parts of Europe’s history matter, and which do not. These awkward contrasts seem to speak of the difficulties of the real continent to which this park refers. Rather than an exemplar of harmony, Europe is an increasingly a divided union, wracked by financial, political, and humanitarian upheavals, and where the lessons of history are often forgotten… (plus d'informations)