Chez Coronado is pleased to present Model A, a show of sculptures by Quintin Atchison. The show is on view through July 18, 2025 by appointment.
The repurposing of military-born technologies is of no surprise in this age of empires. Money is funneled into research on defense mechanisms, weapons, technologies to lessen risk and increase exactitude and, as we slouch further and further into improving these mechanics, other industries pick up whatever has been sloughed off. These discards take on new purpose, often entirely removed from the context that they were originally created for. The entertainment industry has long been known to have a reciprocal relationship with the military, so much so that this exchange has been named the military-entertainment complex. In exchange for propaganda, filmmakers receive better cameras, stronger editing equipment and more easily manipulated lights.
Enter Model 1942-A – A searchlight that began its career lighting up war-torn skies in search of night fighters only to retire in the world of movie premieres and event production, using its bulb to advertise and promote.
“Model 1942-A”, Atchison’s work by the same name, takes this searchlight and removes its function, creating an abstraction of form that is both tied to its multifaceted past and severed from it.
