George Barber rose to prominence in the 1980s as a pioneer of the Scratch Video movement, which sampled clips from Hollywood films, using the untried sampling technology of the day to create an unprecedented orchestration of sound, vision, repeat edits and rhythm. Since then, Barber has developed a large and varied body of work, incorporating found footage, performative monologues and narrative films.

Barber’s The Freestone Drone follows a mission from the point of view of the machine. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – drones – have become an everyday feature of contemporary military activity, replacing humans in reconnaissance flights, small-scale combat missions and covert operations. The US Army operates some ten thousands UAVs – a six-fold increase during Obama’s term - deploying them over locations like Pakistan and Yemen. In The Freestone Drone, Barber brings together war, love, life, death, and sends the drone over not only Waziristan, but also to New York and a London suburb.

In Akula Dream, an old Russian Akula submarine, armed with ballistic nuclear missiles, has a new captain; yet Captain Pavel seems to care very little for practical matters or protocol.

Fences Make Senses rehearses and re-enacts prevailing debates about international borders. Contemporary media reports usually focus on the plight of the forsaken; Barber instead uses non-refugees to improvise common situations and themes. Buying a totally inappropriate boat from a rogue, for example, or having the wrong paperwork at a border, or on towards more philosophical notions - like the moral dilemma of sea captains who routinely ignore refugees.