[ALBSA-Info] Cultural news

[Agron Alibali]

THE MAKING OF BALKAN WARS: THE GAME
 THE BALKAN MALL
   Curated by: "Personal Cinema"
 Coordinated by: Ilias Marmaras and Nina Vagic.
 Contact: the.game at hol.gr      game at personalcinema.net
   www.balkanwars.net
   www.personalcinema.org
 
 10 February -   14 March 2004
 
 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
 
 We announce, 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)
 
 
 THE MAKING OF BALKAN WARS: THE GAME
 THE BALKAN MALL
 
 Curated by: "Personal Cinema"
 Coordinated by: Ilias Marmaras and Nina Vagic.
 Contact: the.game at hol.gr      game at personalcinema.net
 
   www.balkanwars.net
   www.personalcinema.org
 
 
   

 

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