[ISEA2016] Artist Statement: NICOLAS MAIGRET — WAR ZONE #1

Artist Statement

Single-channel video, 2013-2014, 9’00’’

“WAR ZONE #1 / REPRODUCTION OF HISTORICAL MISSILE TRAJECTORIES WITHIN GOOGLE EARTH WAR ZONE EXPLORES THE MILITARY LEGACY THAT IS NOW PART AND PARCEL OF WIDELY USED TECHNOLOGIES”. In this series of videos, the artist reconstitutes three missile trajectories with a subjective camera within the program Google Earth by using historical data. This project focuses on reminding modern-day technologies of their past by highlighting the clues to their military origins. In the case at hand, the attention is centred on missile history – missiles being the precursor of the space programme and of the launching into orbit of satellites whose shots and mapping capabilities we now use on a daily basis.
As such, we follow the trajectories of a V2 rocket invented by the Nazis and launched from the Netherlands to England in 1945; a Scud missile launched from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War; and finally an air-to-ground missile launched from Israel to Gaza in 2014. By riding astride our missile in the manner of Dr. Strangelove, we can consider the development of these instruments of death, from the poor precision of V2 rockets to the surgical strikes of Israel – the nation with the highest number of start-ups, in particular in the realm of cyberdefence, and the nation in which the military is the main source of innovation. This work is based on data gathered from archives, interviews, blogs and historical events. The imperfections allow to identify a medium, in the style of glass becoming visible by the accumulated dusts and scratches. I expose the internal workings of media, through an exploration of their dysfunctions, limitations or failure thresholds which he develops sensory and immersive audio visual experiences. disnovation.net

Ivan Murit: Software development

Full Text and photo p. 180-181