David Tristan Birkin

David Birkin
David Birkin at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program, 2014
Born	David Tristan Birkin 1977 London, U.K.
Nationality	British / American
Education	University of Oxford Slade School of Fine Art Whitney Museum Independent Study Program
Parent(s)	Elisabeth Guss (mother) Andrew Birkin (father)
Relatives	Jane Birkin (aunt) Charlotte Gainsbourg (cousin) Kate Barry (cousin) Lou Doillon (cousin) Judy Campbell (grandmother) Anno Birkin (half-brother) Ned Birkin (half-brother)
Website	www.davidbirkin.net

David Tristan Birkin (born 1977) is an artist working with photography and performance art.

Birkin grew up between London and New York City, eventually returning to the UK to study human sciences and anthropology at Oxford University (1996–1999). He completed an MA at the Slade School of Fine Art (2009–2011) with a scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Birkin was a fellow of the Art and Law Program in New York (2011–2012) and the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2012–2013). He was an artist-in-residence at Yaddo in 2013, the MacDowell Colony in 2015, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's studios on Governors Island in 2016.

Much of Birkin's work reflects on the way war is depicted and the language and legal frameworks that underpin it. Past projects have included a collaboration with the courtroom sketch artist at the Guantanamo military commissions; a digital photographic transcription of identification numbers from the Iraq War civilian casualties database; a photo archive image from Kabul traced to Renaissance lapis lazuli mines in Afghanistan; an extract of CIA legalese in skywriting above Manhattan; and a plane circling the Statue of Liberty’s torch towing a banner that read "The Shadow of a Doubt".