Asymmetry is Strategy&Strategy is Asymmetry, 2017
The twenty-first century is turning out to be a unique mixture of incompetence and brilliance – of state-of-the-art technology and primitivism – of softness and brutality. The twenty-first century is a landscape of swords and magic. The world has become coarse, ignorant, and at the same time wonderfully sophisticated – intelligent. All of this can coexist.
All of these can coexist. Technical developments in recreational drone manufacturing have shifted significantly over the last five years. Drones are very reliable and, above all, affordable. Parallel developments in the field of miniature cameras and smartphones have very quickly transformed these objects into a position of war strategy.
[0] ↔ AiS&SiA (Asymmetry is Strategy & Strategy is Asymmetry) was originally a performative lecture that was produced in preparation for the 2017 film of the same name at the London Contemporary Art Organization, Gasworks. The film was based on a thorough research of propaganda videos in which ISIS fighters present new combat strategies. The videos show new tactics of taxidermy drones. A mechanism is mounted on the drone’s fuselage, into which a 40mm grenade is inserted. The mechanism is cocked above the destination and the grenade is dropped on a specific target.
Conception&text Aleš Čermák Performer, narrator Jindřiška Křivánková Sound design&composition Matouš Hejl
The essay accompanying the film is free to download (p. 11-12): Asymmetry is Strategy&Strategy is Asymmetry
More information can be found on the website of the organization Gasworks
Rezidenční pobyt byl podpořen Czech Centre, London and Arts Institute, Prague.
