Gallery: Surplus Predator Drone Container Morphs Into War Protest Machine

  • Drone Readymade
    01

    drone-readymade

    *The Drone Readymade, with the Port of San Diego’s industrial skyline in the background.* Photo: The Periscope Project
  • Mysterious Origins
    02

    mysterious-origins

    *The MQ-1 Predator Drone container at a military salvage site in Ramona, California.* Photo: Periscope Project
  • Tricky Transport
    03

    tricky-transport

    *Simple machines: unloading the drone container at the Periscope Project site.* Photo: Periscope Project
  • Poway Police Incident
    04

    poway-police-incident

    *Altercation: Police in Poway, California question Periscope Project members about the contents of their U-Haul after a tip-off from a worried General Atomics employee.* Photo: Periscope Project
  • Original Destination Details
    05

    original-destination-details

    *On the container, San Diego orca stickers near a label with details about the item’s origin and destination. A different label listed the container’s price of $17,647.00. James Enos said a Predator drone costs $1.2 to $3 million.* Photo: John Hanacek/Calit2, UC San Diego
  • Set up at Night
    06

    set-up-at-night

    *Drone readymade, fore, San Diego night sky, aft.* Photo: Periscope Project
  • Interior Decoration
    07

    interior-decoration

    *Benches and built-in shelving inside the refurbished drone case, on display at the “Drones at Home” exhibit at UCSD’s gallery@calit2 space, March 2012.* Photo: John Hanacek/Calit2, UC San Diego
  • At UCSD
    08

    at-ucsd

    *On site at the Drones at Home opening, UC San Diego.* Photo: John Hanacek/Calit2, UC San Diego
  • Avengers Appearance
    09

    avengers-appearance

    *“Hidden in plain sight”: crates of MQ-1 Predator drones, with orange plastic lids to spare the fiberglass, stacked up in a still from Joss Whedon’s 2012 superhero movie*, The Avengers.
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