Aerial photograph of Dugway Proving Ground

KYDOIMOS_2017, Duration 29:30, David Maisel, Artist, Chris Kallmyer, Composer 

KYDOIMOS: The Din of Battle

May 18, 2024 – January 5, 2025

The Autry in Griffith Park

About the Exhibition

KYDOIMOS: The Din of Battle is comprised of more than 50,000 aerial photographs of Dugway Proving Ground, a classified military installation set in a remote portion of Utah’s Great Salt Lake Desert. The flickering images in KYDOIMOS depict test grids inscribed into the desert floor, where chemical and biological weapons and their facsimiles are detonated, turning this isolated landscape into a measuring device against which dispersal rates, toxicity levels, and threats to the human body are measured.  

Gaining access to the site required patience, persistence, and a government handler who accompanied the artist at all times. Maisel was further challenged by posted signs declaring that “Photography, or making notes, drawings, maps, or graphic representations of this area, or its activities, is prohibited unless specifically authorized by the Commander.” These limitations notwithstanding, Maisel was able to capture an abundance of images that collectively convey the scope and scale of the secretive activities at Dugway Proving Ground, while also acknowledging the ways in which they are abstracted and concealed.  

Exhibition Sponsor

KYDOIMOS: The Din of Battle is part of the exhibition, Out of Site: Survey Science and the Hidden West. This exhibition is among more than 70 exhibitions and programs presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit: pst.art

Land Acknowledgment

The Autry Museum of the American West acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands). We recognize that the Autry Museum and its campuses are located on the traditional lands of Gabrielino/Tongva peoples and we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.

The Autry Museum in Griffith Park

4700 Western Heritage Way

Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462
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