Joe Cochran

For centuries the coloured community in the USA have experienced racialized surveillance and violence on an uncanny scale. While there have been some amendments to how certain demographics deal with their race, considerable changes have not been instituted.

Killology (n) - the scholarly study of the destructive act, just as sexology is the scholarly study of the procreative act. In particular, killology focuses on the reactions of healthy people in killing circumstances (such as police and military in combat) and the factors that enable and restrain killing in these situations.

The term “killology’ was coined by Dave Grossman, a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel that acts as an authority on close-combat and the psychology of violence. His philosophy on killing stems from his time in the army and can be summarised simply as ‘fighting violence with superior, righteous violence.’ Regardless of this outdated and ineffective approach to policing, his semi-celebrity status has allowed him to give seminars to thousands of law enforcement professionals in nearly all 50 states.

The result of several months of discourse, There will Be Blood is the first collaboration between Denzel Russell and Joseph Cochran. Using hours of public access footage edited by Cochran and displayed via LED screens built by Russell, There Will Be Blood is a study and comment on the militarization of public safety, the "warrior mentality" and the adoration of safety at all cost.

Joseph Cochran/Denzel Russell

There Will Be Blood

Single Channel Video/Installation

Cologne, Germany, 2020