Gulsen Bal

In today’s world, one always faces the question of whether borders are still defining the limits of the

global and if this is the case then how globalisation does influence the emigrational/nomadic paradigm…

Unavoidable dynamical fluxus of continuous relocations substitutes the procedures of iteration.

This interaction, as the notion of chaotic itinerancy implies: the forces in play cannot be described by a

fixed constant vectors, characterizes the transformation of the possible into the real within a rhizomic marking.

A becoming unstable of the models are part of an artificial world might be generative for the following becoming stable in the

midst of a response to the notion of ‘progressive’ negation. What remains to be thought is the repetitious desire

to recognise ‘ourselves’ to a double degree. “For in that hybridity of histories and

cultures you have the spectacle of the simulacral... What this […] negations of identity

dramatise, in their elision of the seeing eye which must contemplate what is missing or

invisible, is impossibility of claiming an origin for the Self (or Other) within a tradition of

The force of cultural difference is, as Barthes once said of the practice of metonymy, the

violation of a signifying limit of space; it allows, on the very level of discourse, a counter

division of objects, meanings, spaces and properties. However “…where do we in that

uncanny echo between what may be described as the attenuation of identity and its

Yet, does the existence of the Other depend on the Self or is it the Self which creates

the Other? To see how superficial the discourse of otherness is, it is interesting to see

how the trivial of selfhood is as the Self and the Other are both polarities of the same

ideological construction. The process of “othering” selfhood subsequently is fixed and

identified in identification. So there is no simple Self or simple Other, there are instead

configurations of both as represented through cultural discourse.

However, in today’s art world there is a discourse on otherness, the art of migrations.

The notion of migration has become ubiquitous in the art world. In the discursive space

that was opened by the problematisation of globalisation through questioning what kind

of project then is possible within the space opened up by the new geographies, at the

very point of crossing the borders?

Contemporary Arts, ed. by Lisa Appignanesi, 1987, p.4

things you can not put into words, whatever the

framework, we all have already noticed that the

media tend to speak in their own ways. In my opinion, both aspects are true: that we

have been taking advantage of what appears in the media as reality, in favour of what

we want to create, as well as that we have been using some accessible media as a way

to deal with what is difficult but necessary to deal with.

The Making of Balkan Wars: The Game

structure of the Balkan territory, the relations with the internal and external “other”, the

outside pressure and intervention. This last argument is the argument that makes the

Balkan reality very similar to the structure that is used for the construction of a video

game, since Balkanism is one of the primary objectives of many strategic imaginary

constructions. That’s why the video game approach is essential to understanding and

communicating with the Balkan territory -especially if you transform the metaphor to a

god like video game (where the player plays with the avatars while s/he is trying to

conquer the world). The Balkana city is trying to focus on many factors that transform

and create the Balkans: all the empires that ruled the area from the Byzantine era to the

current Occidentalism, the crossroad of the religions, the struggling for self identification,

the social whole that is excluding the person and many more. The new media is just a

vehicle with G.P.S.(Global Positioning System).

multi-theocratic, oppositional forces in which

there are no evident pathways to any evident

goals and in which there is a no obvious

distinction between either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and

constructive or destructive action. The heroic

and the despotic become one in labyrinth of ever

shifting historical reference.

related to this question, concerning both “old art’’

practices and new media ones. P.C tries to focus

within some of them. For instance, technological

innovations have established new rules for engagement with a public that has become

accustomed to increasingly frenetic and effortless media. The amply demonstrated

utility of the new media for the purposes of marketing now motivates creative practices

that short-circuit, parody, deflate, and digress from the imperatives of consumption.

While relevant distribution systems are clearly in a state of flux, historical parallels with

the emergence of film and radio would lead us to believe that this fluid condition will not

last. What would it mean for digital media and distribution systems to assume a stable

configuration? Would such a configuration be something other than an apotheosis of

marketing? Would it more resemble extreme sports, violent video games, or the archive

of artefacts that are conventionally known as cinema?

that may use some kind of artistic pretext but generally remain determined by a web of

interests clearly detached from the need for artistic expression itself. Turning this

situation on its head, P.C. uses the idea of the network itself as the material to be

reprocessed, articulated and structured within the process of artistic creation.

The Game, you will notice how we’ve used

representations of reality mixed up and redefined

in a way that speaks for itself, i.e. a typical Balkan

rural landscape with hills, (simulacrum) is covered

with artificial 3D bodies and synthetic sounds,

which create a fantastic situation, a reflection of

reality.

so much the problems of linguistic categorisation

but the separation between noise and information.

or object is actually the product of complex mental processes and the virtual reality is an

extension of consciousness… So the ‘virtual images’, in a way, by paradox, are

supposed to be more ‘absorbing’ and more ‘expressive’… and the real objects are the

once to be elaborated consequently by ‘virtual perception’…

lot on the axis of the Balkans being a fantastic creation par excellence.

simulated Balkan Reality from this game, then there wouldn’t be any Balkan problem at

all in the region. We have often faced very sensitive matters concerning minorities and

identities while us creating the game. If one considers that around 700.000 people died

in the past decade in the former Yugoslavia, it becomes apparent that it is impossible to

learn how to behave and act in the region without actually leaving there or in a region

with similar “sensitivities”.

territory. Balkan Mall is not a documentary that deals with the physical reality. We are

concerned mostly with the intention of the user/spectator toward the media space,

his/her believes about information streams and reality. Comprehension can be an

element of a game, war is something different.

other territory in the world that rich in wars and conflict. There are some 55 counted, until

today, and ‘tomorrow is another day’, you know… Maybe by the time of printing this txt,

this number will change… This is ‘Balkan reality’. There is no reason to invent or to

imagine… You just fallow the real facts and there is a storyboard! The ‘Balkanisation’ in

this simulated parody-like Balkan reality means that you have to find the way, by

choosing a way to survive…

technology, distribution systems and Balkans.

Considering these matters, I would reverse the

question in order to reload the meaning: what is not

political/social in such a context?

local political/social issues. Even the works are

chosen fallowing these criteria. It is a try to

revaluate the territory and to offer ‘The Balkan’ way

of seeing things in this context… to propose to

change a long time Balkan status of being an object

to the status of the subject in international relations,

even though approached through virtual means…

systems that are responsive to the local, the individual, and even the unprofitable.

Personal Cinema is concerned with the presentation of multimedia works such as films,

videos, documentaries, video games, CD-ROMs, software, etc., within the framework of

independent production and practices that are different from those that are applied by

the film industry and the commercial media in general. Personal Cinema organizes

projects and events that engage the critical mind of the public, suggesting alternatives to

the new global homogeneity. It focuses attention on problems that concern the local

territories and tries to explore the different cultural characteristics that constitute the

social identity of the individual. Moreover, it works to develop public contexts for minority

groups to express and represent themselves.

“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 South eastern 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.

mainstream media and the art world. We see that their attention does not always

coincide (yet). Regarding the enormous difference between the influence exerted from

television to the public and that of exhibitions like ‘’Gorges of the Balkans’’, I don’t feel

very embarrassed of this fashionable trend. After all, for some of us-at least- that we are

leaving at the Balkan Peninsula, in one way or another Balkans is a permanent trend.

mentioned curators is from the Balkans, so as the consequence they have different

approach and interpretation of the Balkan art and issues. It is a part of general politics -

the European integration of the region. For us it’s different. We are experiencing this

reality directly, and it is a constant thing, it was like that before and after entering of

Balkan Art in the west - European art scene. For us it is not the fashion moment for

shore, it is ‘our blood and our honey’…