Special Works School

Forum Expanded Exhibition 2018

“Special Works School” was the codename used by the British War Office between 1917–1919 for a group of artists tasked with the job of “camoufleur” – painters, textile artists, scenographers, designers, sculptors, and scenic painters who were employed by the military to work specifically on developing camouflage technology. The artist, armed with the skill of rendering their surroundings with utmost acuity, was appointed to make things disappear. Bambitchell’s Special Works School takes its name from this military unit to investigate the connections between artistic practice and surveillance technologies. The installation asks what an overtly aesthetic approach to surveillance can render visible, or invisible. By framing surveillance as an aesthetic practice, Special Works School homes in on the psychic, embodied, and material dimensions of surveillance – both from the position of the surveillor and the surveilled.

by Bambitchell (Sharlene Bamboat & Alexis Mitchell)
with Alexis Mitchell, Richy Carey, Mason Leaver-Yap Canada / Germany 2016 English 27’ Colour Documentary form

With

Alexis Mitchell (Sand)
Richy Carey (Cyan)
Mason Leaver-Yap (Purple)

Crew

Written and Directed by	Bambitchell (Sharlene Bamboat & Alexis Mitchell)
Cinematography	Rita Macedo
Editing	Alexis Mitchell
Music	Richy Carey
Sound Design	Richy Carey
Sound	Richy Carey
Production Design	Vika Kirchenbauer
Producers	Bambitchell

Produced by

Bambitchell

Photos

Bambitchell (Sharlene Bamboat & Alexis Mitchell)

Bambitchell is the artistic collaboration between Sharlene Bamboat, born in 1984 in Pakistan, and Alexis Mitchell, born in 1983 in Canada. Working together since 2009, their works have been exhibited at international festivals and galleries and included in a number of publications. The duo recently completed a residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany (2015–17) and a fellowship at The MacDowell Colony.

Filmography

2012 Citizen Kenney: A Love Letter in 3 Parts 2014 Silent Citizen; video installation 2015 Empire Symbol, Or A Man and his Mule 2018 Special Works School

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018