presentations:
medialab/Madrid 2004
city museum/Skopje 2004
previews:
fridericianum/Kassel 2003
Thessalonika 2003
THE MAKING OF BALKAN
WARS : THE GAME
The Object and the
Cultural/Geographic Context
The name ''Balkans'' sounds as a synonym of war and it is easily the subject of an analysis from that perspective, a point of view that represents the local history of nations and cultures as an omnipresent war game that defines the real and the imaginary in the lives of people. The rationalization of European societies during the 18th century and the appearance of the nation state, was reflected in the Balkans through several national revolutions and the emergence of nationalism. The co-existence of three major religions mostly defines the interrelational space of activity in the area. In many cases, the politics of culture and religion that brings pressure to bear upon the area, leads to isolationism, which results in phenomena of the Bosnia and Kossovo type. Despite the politics of division practiced by the separate religions, they embrace some common basic values. A transcendent condition to the borders of South East Europe can only emerge gradually from the development of these common elements. It should be noted that apart from the rules of neutrality and mediation, a third rule for peace in a multicultural, multireligious environment is the rule of the common elements considered through sensitivity, understanding and adoption of the ethics and practices of people of other cultures.
The goals of this project are:
to show the sensitivities of artists belonging to different cultural, religious and historical backgrounds, mostly, but not exclusively, from the south eastern region of Europe, who through their experience over time and within history have found the inspiration for their work and the will to communicate their thoughts, in order to understand the existing differences.
to promote a virtual, international discussion between, artist/audience, artist/critic and between the artists themselves, creating an important art net in the region.
to explore the field of new media art and new technology tools.
Outline of the project’s origin
The idea of “The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game” project came from discussions within the Personal Cinema artistic group concerning the reality (or virtual reality) presented through official narratives and industrial entertainment, about war games and epic strategy video games, about the primacy of an American Californian industry in the production and control of this specific market, which engages millions of people, worldwide. In a frenzied search for the creation of local heroes and imagined zones of conflict, the creators of these hyper-realistic virtual games, most often present a simplified interpretation of human history and culture. As a consequence this form of virtual reality does not adequately describe the experience of the people who are caught within the actual war games, and by entering homes all over the world threatens the character of national identity and any kind of democratic principles and rights to free opinion. In the live real-time/real-war videos of global news broadcasters and in video games, this simplification of culture and history is itself a form of violence.
Development and History to date
In 2002 the members of the Personal Cinema wrote, distributed and uploaded the call for proposals [http://www.personalcinema.net/wargame/] for the particular project whose aim was to gather and present works as alternative representations of the Balkan History and Identity. The call was distributed mostly through the existing new media centers in the Balkan peninsula.
The central themes
that were to be addressed were the following:
European/South East European Identity
Geo-strategy
War
Globalism and local culture
Representation
History
Reality and virtuality
Immigration, displacement (dépaysment) and ethnicity
while the suggested “categories/contributions” were:
Photographs
Illustrations
Web art
Essays
Animations
Short documentaries
Story-boards
Film and video
Character sketches
Film-style trailers
Videos portraying levels of The Game
Descriptions of strategy, scenarios, and game logic
Game-related dialogue (insults, exclamations)
Sound track music and sound effects
Previews of the project were shown and announcements were made in the following venues:
the Forum of South-eastern Art Exchanges in Thessalonica [November 2002]
Conversations for Art and Society in Europe, Athens [December 2002]
At the Gorges of the Balkans, Fridericianum, Kassel [August 2003]
More than 50 artists from 17 countries were included while the Personal Cinema team also worked on the designing and development of the platform that would host the works and the video game itself, the “Balkan Mall”.
The aim was to put the very strong messages told by the artists into a continuous and constructive dialogue creating different virtual and real levels of conflict. This new space for dialogue is based both on history and on personal experience. It has worked as an opportunity to articulate new narratives that resonate with the memories and experiences of the artists, many of whom have faced first-hand the contradictions of the dominant media representations.
From the spring 2003 the Personal Cinema has been working continuously on the development and advancement of the technological platform of the game and the incorporation and best presentation of all the different elements.
The project was invited and was presented as an installation in the MediaLabMadrid from the 10th of February until the 14th of March 2004. (see also press uploaded on the website)
Finally, it needs to be said that the project is seen by its creators as a dynamic process, inviting further intervention on already submitted and exhibited art works. The submission of new works, during the exhibition serials (during the period 2004-2005 the project will travel to several European cities), is warmly encouraged and welcome. Dealing with new media undoubtedly requires a collaboration between artists and the Personal Cinema team considers group work and artistic exchange as an important part of the event.