Martha Rosler

The images are from In the Place of the Public: Airport Series, which Rosler has taken with a 35mm camera since 1983, while in transit though airports. Alongside the photographs sit texts written by the artist. These explore the psychology of flying and the architectural aesthetics of airport terminals. Rosler also looks at the role of the flight passengers, the economics of flying and the strategies adopted by airlines. The sentences draw attention to the ways in which airport advertising, signage and architecture promise to take the visitor elsewhere, mentally and physically. The series as a whole represents Rosler’s sustained concerns with invisible labour, class, capital and the production of public space.

After governments tightened border and immigration controls in 2001 following the 9/11 airline hijackings, Rosler added texts to focus more strongly on the politics of scrutiny. 20 years on, with the climate of surveillance and security even more heightened, the series takes on fresh meaning and relevance. Rosler notes that the concerns she began exploring in the 1980s now resonate ‘especially powerfully in Europe and the UK in this period of historic refugee flows, Brexit, still expanding work, familial, and leisure travel – and now politically fraught forced deportations.’

Also included in the display are two single-channel videos Rosler created at airports and during her air travels. Nearby vitrines include a selection of in-flight menus the artist has collected, and Rosler’s artist book In the Place of the Public: Airport Series: Observations of a Frequent Flyer.