The Australian-Icelandic noise artist has been holed up on an aircraft carrier
In 2012 Ben Frost embarked on a journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with filmmaker Richard Mosse. The journey resulted in a soundtrack to Mosse’s film The Enclave and ultimately inspired Frost’s 2014 album A U R O R A. Now the pair are embarking on a new project together, a Channel 4 documentary called Bombing Isis.
The film revolves around the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a rig situated in the Persian Golf. The ship has been the base for bombing missions over Syria and Iraq in recent years. Frost has been embedded on the rig alongside Mosse and cinematographer Trevor Tweeten in preparation for his work on the soundtrack. The trio commented:
“Activities aboard an active, forward deployed aircraft carrier are, of course, absolutely newsworthy. But, as artists, we were also very impressed by the sublime physical forces that were active on deck: the tremendous deafening metal machine noise, the very dangerous heat (up to 65 Celsius), the somatic, body-shaking vibration, the violent crashing and furious catapulting of multi-million dollar aircraft loaded with deadly ordinance.
“Yet the crew working in this ferocious environment remain perfectly calm, signalling to each other with coded gestures like actors in an absurdist theatre play. The ship’s crew were thoroughly genial and kind towards us, which seemed oddly incongruous with their task of fixing deadly payloads to enormous killing machines. There was even a sense of tenderness with which they serviced this vicious apparatus, cleaning salty residue from every exposed surface, carefully wheeling missiles, thoroughly inspecting the deck for loose debris, hauling chains.
“This is the triumph of modern warfare, casting a veil over individual ethical culpability, concealing bloody hands with lily-white gloves.”
You can watch the short documentary in full in the player above.
