Richard A Carter

Towards a Wind Humanities IIn this talk, Dr J. R. Carpenter and Dr Richard Carter will discuss their interdisciplinary practice-led research projects published in a special issue of Media + Environment co-edited by Maximilian ...

Next week! For all those in Yorkshire, I will be giving a talk for the Royal Meteorological Society alongside @jrcarpenter.bsky.social (who very kindly invited me along). "Towards a Wind Humanities" - on wind as "model, media, and experience" www.rmets.org/event/toward...

Colourful tiles, with flower like geometric patterns, in warm pastel shades, are seen in the generator window

Working on some print design for a (paid!) project. At present, the fun bit - layouts and visuals. An afternoon's toil has delivered this colourful tile generator for borders and dividers.

A screenshot from Flight Diaries. A traced glider flightpath over a map. A popup box with statistics relating to a particular moment of the flight. A poem at the bottom. "A little upwind of the field / a matter of luck / a gentle landing".

New digital piece available in the latest issue of "The Lit Platform"! "Flight Diaries" is the latest iteration of my ongoing work in finding ways of visualising and poetically narrating my experiences as a glider pilot theliteraryplatform.com/stories/flig...

#art #poetry #digital #flight #data #dh

A conference hosted by the Centre for Drones and Culture Sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Dates: Thursday 25 June - Friday 26 June 2026 Venue: Jesus College, University of Cambridge From agriculture to logistics, from journalism to delivery, from war to peacebuilding: drones continue to impact the ways we live, work, tell stories, relate to one another, and imagine the future. Debates continue to surround more risky drone developments, such as drones' integration into autonomous, Al-driven warfare, and their illicit use for drugs and weapons delivery into prisons. However, alternative deployments show promise, including unmanned delivery of medicines to remote geographies, surveying of humanitarian crises and environmental disasters, and the creation of fresh visual idioms in photography, cinematography, gaming, and other forms of entertainment. Although the types of drones used in these spaces can be quite different, they often involve imaginaries of situational awareness, technological autonomy, and "distant intimacy" - of humans being physically apart from another person, object, or milieu while robots remain relatively close, at times even enabling affective feelings and cognitive impressions of access and intimacy. While drone studies has tended to treat the use of drones in these spaces separately, the ambition of this conference is to engage in boundary work which moves the field towards a more heterogeneous, as well as normative, understanding of drones in society, politics, and culture: towards a critical drone studies that acknowledges both how individual motivations and creativity shape what a drone is and does, and how such engagements are also influenced by institutions and power. To this end, this is a reflexively interdisciplinary conference that encourages exploratory perspectives on drone pasts, presents, and futures, with a focus on probing the logics and narratives underpinning drone development, proliferation, and acceptance.

Research on broad topics related but not limited to the following are very welcome: Drone wars: algorithmic and Al-enabled violence; drones as justified or non-justified forms of organized / disorganized violence; "new" drone wars, drone-on-drone warfare, Drones and civil liberties: policing; surveillance; predictive politics; protest; regulatory politics; atmospheric commons Drone humanitarianism: "Drones for Good"; drones in rescue and disaster relief; drone use by non-governmental organizations; drones, human rights, and accountability Drone ecologies: climate-human-technology relationships; conservation; biomimetics; environmental monitoring Drones and political economy: commercial drone applications; drone bases, supply chains, logistics, materialities Drone labour: lived experiences involving drones; drone praxis (including ethnographies and autoethnographies); drone technology and constructions of human ability / disability Drone aesthetics: artistic, speculative, and experimental imaginaries regarding unmanned and/or autonomous artefacts; popular drone culture including photography, marketing, filmmaking, drone racing, light shows Contributions from the humanities, social sciences, and beyond are very welcome, as are contributions from those working outside of academic institutions, including practitioner communities, non-profit organizations, government and policy-making organizations, think tanks, as well as artists and creators. Details for Proposals: There are three formats for presentations; please indicate which one you are applying for on the online application. Individual research presentations (max. 15 minutes) Panel presentations (max. 3 speakers x 15 minutes) Creative Showcase presentations: There is limited room for research-grounded creative contributions as part of the conference programming. At this time, we can only accommodate screen-based / touchscreen-based outputs. Deadline for Proposals: 12 January 2026

Critical Drone Studies: Drones in Society, Politics, and Culture
25-26 June 2026 at University of Cambridge.

CFP Link: www.centrefordronesandculture.com/blog/confere...

Ouch.

A conference hosted by the Centre for Drones and Culture Sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Dates: Thursday 25 June - Friday 26 June 2026 Venue: Jesus College, University of Cambridge From agriculture to logistics, from journalism to delivery, from war to peacebuilding: drones continue to impact the ways we live, work, tell stories, relate to one another, and imagine the future. Debates continue to surround more risky drone developments, such as drones' integration into autonomous, Al-driven warfare, and their illicit use for drugs and weapons delivery into prisons. However, alternative deployments show promise, including unmanned delivery of medicines to remote geographies, surveying of humanitarian crises and environmental disasters, and the creation of fresh visual idioms in photography, cinematography, gaming, and other forms of entertainment. Although the types of drones used in these spaces can be quite different, they often involve imaginaries of situational awareness, technological autonomy, and "distant intimacy" - of humans being physically apart from another person, object, or milieu while robots remain relatively close, at times even enabling affective feelings and cognitive impressions of access and intimacy. While drone studies has tended to treat the use of drones in these spaces separately, the ambition of this conference is to engage in boundary work which moves the field towards a more heterogeneous, as well as normative, understanding of drones in society, politics, and culture: towards a critical drone studies that acknowledges both how individual motivations and creativity shape what a drone is and does, and how such engagements are also influenced by institutions and power. To this end, this is a reflexively interdisciplinary conference that encourages exploratory perspectives on drone pasts, presents, and futures, with a focus on probing the logics and narratives underpinning drone development, proliferation, and acceptance.

Research on broad topics related but not limited to the following are very welcome: Drone wars: algorithmic and Al-enabled violence; drones as justified or non-justified forms of organized / disorganized violence; "new" drone wars, drone-on-drone warfare, Drones and civil liberties: policing; surveillance; predictive politics; protest; regulatory politics; atmospheric commons Drone humanitarianism: "Drones for Good"; drones in rescue and disaster relief; drone use by non-governmental organizations; drones, human rights, and accountability Drone ecologies: climate-human-technology relationships; conservation; biomimetics; environmental monitoring Drones and political economy: commercial drone applications; drone bases, supply chains, logistics, materialities Drone labour: lived experiences involving drones; drone praxis (including ethnographies and autoethnographies); drone technology and constructions of human ability / disability Drone aesthetics: artistic, speculative, and experimental imaginaries regarding unmanned and/or autonomous artefacts; popular drone culture including photography, marketing, filmmaking, drone racing, light shows Contributions from the humanities, social sciences, and beyond are very welcome, as are contributions from those working outside of academic institutions, including practitioner communities, non-profit organizations, government and policy-making organizations, think tanks, as well as artists and creators. Details for Proposals: There are three formats for presentations; please indicate which one you are applying for on the online application. Individual research presentations (max. 15 minutes) Panel presentations (max. 3 speakers x 15 minutes) Creative Showcase presentations: There is limited room for research-grounded creative contributions as part of the conference programming. At this time, we can only accommodate screen-based / touchscreen-based outputs. Deadline for Proposals: 12 January 2026

Critical Drone Studies: Drones in Society, Politics, and Culture
25-26 June 2026 at University of Cambridge.

CFP Link: www.centrefordronesandculture.com/blog/confere...

Early early ASCII art rocks. A "how did they make that?" for historical (& very current, as here!) technology—letterpress for "drawing" art #DHmakes

Ah that's interesting, but yes, the pieces made rarely seem to have much to say beyond their very existence (not that I find that quality objectionable per se, but I don't see much else going on). Ultimately, it's the continuing adherence to NFTs that I find strange.

It's also so oddly insular - it seemingly has little dialogue with anything outside of itself.

So Blue Prince won best video game at Aesthetica - no surprises there! Glad to have my own title featured during the festival, and, for a few days at least, being a lanyard-toting Game Developer. I'm not sure when I'll have something game-like enough to submit again, but maybe one day. #gameDev

Remember this one fondly from what seems like far too long ago.

A passing thought - I'm still mildly bemused by the fact that so much 'generative digital art' remains captured by NFT infrastructure - as if somehow the art cannot be presented or made accessible in any other form.

Actually Existing Solarpunk | booktwo.org November 7, 2025

Love James Bridle’s notion of “Actually Existing #solarpunk ”. Rhymes with Erik Olin Wright’s Real Utopias and The New Aesthetic… and googling for a link for TNA I realize it is also Bridle 🤯

booktwo.org/notebook/act...

#sharegoodnewstoo

We have just released a new episode of the #DARCI Podcast reflecting on the DARCI Conference. Both the audio and the transcript are available. A great episode with lots of insights on the field and lots of tips on how to organise inclusive and accessible events enhancingaudiodescription.com/darci-23

...Small mercy that the same 4 arcade games are being played by most people here! 😅 (It's interesting to think how games are so contextual, and that what works in an assumed single player private context makes little sense in a public exhibition setting like this).

Can confirm that poor old Agentia is still not rendering useably at Aesthetica! The perils of browser based game design (although I've noticed a couple of the other games are also not coming up well on their system either).

#gameDev #gaming

A sunset over the sea

The sun gone, the cliffs set against the glowing sky, as the ocean waves roll in

Dad sent these photos from the shores of home this evening, and, honestly, I find it harder to be away from it during the Autumn more than anything else - the light is something to behold.

End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance

This absolutely horrible project - a product of naked egotism - deserves every failure that can come its way. The delusional hype that surrounded this was, I forward, even more infuriating than that of AI. The very image, a line imposed across the desert, speaks for itself. ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...

Agentia on the screen

Agentia on the screen

And there it is! Agentia unfortunately doesn't render very well on the demo systems - essentially a closed Steam browser - so perhaps a blessing that few will ever try to play it, but it is nice to have it here 😅

Agentia on the screen in the games lab

Waiting patiently for a seat at the Games Lab - Agentia is there!

#gameDev #indieDev #soloDev #gaming

Aesthetica Tote Bag and Game Developer Festival Pass

I'm now an Official Game Developer* at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival! I will be giving a talk shortly on "Agentia" before using Developer privilege to see the game in situ later today.

*Question is, do I get to retain this status after the festival is over?

#gameDev #gaming #indieDev #games

I know, if I had it my way, that I would probably never write another academic article ever again, and would instead explore and articulate ideas with forms that are not only more durational in their expression, but are seasonal - changing with each passing day, responsive to tides and the planets.

Aesthetica Short Film Festival Poster

A screenshot from agentia showing a hand drawn isometric landscape with the words "agentia" overlaid in green serif font. Aesthetica Short Film Festival official selection laurels present.

This week! "Agentia" will be available in the Games Lab at the
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York! I'm planning to speak on Wednesday as part of the Makers Forum too. asff.co.uk/games-and-vr... #gameDev #indieDev #indieGame #soloDev #poetry #nature #gaming

Further to yesterday's aerial adventures, a reminder that this now exists and you're most welcome to try it out!

A swan on a lake on a sunny morning

Enjoying a peaceful morning 🦢

#photography #nature #swan #autumn

Caught sight of Orion for the first time this season, having been denied a view by nightly clouds for many weeks. Always a welcome sign.

A glider cockpit sails over green fields in a late Autumn evening. Large banks of cloud in the near distance

One more from today - the low sun made still photography difficult, but this one, early on in the tow, worked out quite well.

#photography #aviation #gliding #nature #autumn #sky

5/ Landing! Runway 23 at Rufforth is never the most comfortable of approaches, but the pilot, Mark Blades, makes it look easy in the big DG505. I very much enjoyed the chance just to sit back and take in the view. I hope you also enjoyed the ride! 🛩️

4/ A straightforward "sled ride" towards the airfield, and we get a good view of York in the distance. We're still looking for lift, even now, just in case we can keep the flight going for a little longer.

3/ Releasing from the tow plane, we head straight for what looks like a promising cloud (unfortunately proves a little too far away to reach, and there is too little lift in its immediacy for clinging on, so back home we go).