[nettime-lat] Media Lab Madrid - THE MAKING OF BALKAN WARS: THE GAME

[asterion@ntlworld.com]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:           	"Andrej Tisma" <aart@eunet.yu>
Date sent:      	Sun, 8 Feb 2004 01:07:24 +0100
Subject:        	Media Lab Madrid - THE MAKING OF BALKAN WARS: THE
GAME


Media Lab Madrid

Centro Cultural Conde Dunque

c/ Conde Dunque 9 -11

28015 Madrid

Spain

T: +34 91 8121123 / 8120939



The project was proposed at Media Lab by: Katerina Gregos, Sania Papa,
and Denys Zacharopoulos



Personal Cinema announces, The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game and The
Balkan Mall opening on the February 10th 2004 at 1 p.m. at the Media
Lab Madrid.



 “The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game” is a Personal Cinema project
primarily focused on the social and cultural issues within the
Peninsula and on the creation of networks between artists, art
critics, writers and curators from Southeastern Europe. It proposes
some new media works created by 51 participating artists investigating
the Balkan territory and way of life.



Both geopolitical war games and epic strategy video games are
interrelated in this multi-media project. While virtual battle scenes
are celebrated for their extreme realism, contemporary warfare has
begun to resemble science fiction. The reality (or virtual reality)
presented by official narratives and industrial entertainment does not
adequately describe the experiences of the people who are caught in
the actual war games. In the real-time of CNN, and in video games, the
simplification of cultures and history is itself a form of violence.

The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game is intended to counteract the
sensational spectacle of war presented by the media by deconstructing
stereotypes, focusing on the distortion of identities, and revising
the dominant logic of explanation.





“The Balkan Mall” video game, the central node of the project, created
by the Personal Cinema team, is the elevation of social, historical
and cultural elements of the Balkans into the form of an imaginary
Balkan shopping mall. It is a poetic metaphor, which has many moments
of ironic stance towards the prevailing multicultural concepts,
historic disputes and contemporary political developments in the area.
The players and spectators have the opportunity to learn how to behave
and act in a simulated Balkan reality, and are informed about their
level of Balkanization/De-Balkanization through an indicator within
the interface of the game. The game contains about 20 different
spaces, and some 30 videos from artists participating in the wider
project; “The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game”.



Following the “Myth of Interactivity” of new media, in contrast to old
media where the order of presentation is fixed, the users can now
interact with and within a media. They can choose which elements to
display or which paths to follow, creating each time a new pathway and
generating each time a unique work. In addition to the virtual space,
there is a real space, a three-wall projection of a virtual room in
which both real and computer users can select and project videos from
the participating artists. In this way the users become the co-authors
and co-curators of the work. This leads to changing the view and
standards of the art system of curatorial presentation, putting all of
us (artists, critics, curators and spectators) in an uncertain
position of proposing a new art behavior.





Personal Cinema: Maya Bontzou, Andy Deck, Dimitris Dokatzis, Stelios
Giannoulakis, Vassilis Kokkas, Nikolas Kozakis, Ilias Marmaras, Panos
Papadopoulos, Yannis Scoulidas, Alexandros Spyropoulos, Stewart Ziff


Participating Artists: Robert Alias Dragot, Genti Shkurti (Albania);
Beatrijs Albers, Francis Schmetz, Jacques Lizene, Marie Andre, Eugene
Savitzkaya, Reggy Timmermans, Koen Wastijn-Deschuymer, Ria Pacquee
(Belgium); Albena Mihaylova, Krassimir Terziev  (Bulgaria); Irena
Paskali, Natasha Dimitrievska, Christina Ivanoska-Yane Calovski (FYROM
/ Macedonia); Mathias Wagner K (Germany); Kostas Beveratos, Maya
Bontzou, Dimitris Dokatzis, Stelios Giannoulakis, Maurice Ganis, Ilias
Marmaras, Angelo Skourtis, Panos Vittorakis, Alexandros Spyropoulos,
Dimitris Tsardakas (Greece); Babis Kandilaptis, Nicolas Kozakis
(Greece / Belgium); Vassilis Kokkas, Dimitris Tzamouranis  (Greece /
Germany); Chiara Passa, Antonio Riello (Italy); Floe Tudor, Mona
Vatamanu, (Romania);  Per Pegelow (Russia); Andrej Tisma, Windows 99 -
hammer creative (Serbia); Milena ZeVu (Serbia / Hungary); Vuk Cosic
(Serbia  / Slovenia); Aniceto Exposito – Lopez, Angel Vergara (Spain /
Belgium); Selda Ashal, Gulsen Bal, Cem Genser, Genco Gulan (Turkey);
Ruth Catlow (UK); Stewart Ziff (UK / USA); Andy Deck, Goron Dolan,
Morgan Showalter (USA)





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                      Alzar la frente
           es más hermoso que bajarla
                      golpear la vida
          es mas hermoso que abatirse
  y tenderse en tierra por sus golpes

                      ---- José Martí


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