[aha] Fuck the Systsem by Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG in Ljubljana

[Aksioma]

Aksioma -- Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, and Vz(igalica 
gallerykindly invite you to theopening of the exhibition:
*
Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG *
/*Fuck the Systsem*/
www.aksioma.org/systsem <http://www.aksioma.org/systsem>
*
**Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana,*
*Vz(igalica gallery*, Trg francoske revolucije 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia
August 18^th -- September 9^th 2011

*Opening: Thursday, August 18^th 2011 at 8pm*

*New publication: *Aksioma brochure #11 
<http://www.aksioma.org/systsem/pdf/aks_brochure_11_fuck_the_systsem.pdf>, 
Ljubljana 2011
"Fuck the systsem! And the illiterate! Vuk C'osic' talks to Eva and 
Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG"


Net art, online performances, pranks and false identities by Eva and 
Franco Mattes, aka 0100101110101101.ORG, reveal the hidden and repressed 
characteristics of the individual hidden behind a computer. In virtual 
worlds and parallel realities, in the cyborg [human + computer], at the 
very end, they discover a ghost, which runs the symbiotic machine and 
which is, after all, (nothing but) a primate = irritable, competitive, 
egocentric and many other things. In the present exhibition entitled 
/Fuck the Systsem/, we will be presented with four provocative online 
and public actions, whose mutual interest is the "game" as a 
civilisational and cultural achievement.

The artistic pair has played all types of games (following Roger 
Caillois: competition, gambling, mimicry, excitement). In the project 
/Plan C*/(2010), the couple and their collaborators set up an action in 
three acts: arrival in Ukraine, investigation of Chernobyl, and transfer 
of material to Manchester. The game /Plan C/was ostensibly a prank; 
however, it was actually perfectly serious and full of adrenalin. In the 
video and photo documentation of the second part of the action, the 
artists wearing white protective clothing investigated the abandoned 
remains of an amusement park with merry-go-rounds and electric cars. 
According to Caillois, circuses belong to the type of games that 
anticipate risk, which always entails the decisive punishment for the 
acrobat -- death. In the last part of the project /Plan C/, the artists 
transferred a merry-go-round from Ukraine to Great Britain; however, 
nobody took the potential risk of the object seriously.

The works /My Generation/(2010) and /Freedom/(2010) explore the 
deterioration of the game, caused by the breaking of the rules of the 
game or the player's digressions. /Freedom/is an online performance, in 
which the Mattes entered a shoot-out videogame to engage other players 
in establishing a discourse about another reality -- contemporary art. 
Their attempt was a complete failure. Heavily armed commandos had erased 
them from the game even before the performance could have started. This 
raised the question of the identity of the people on the other side of 
the screen, who control the avatars. Therefore, using found footage from 
the internet, the Mattes compiled a shocking video work /My Generation/, 
which shows people during fits of rage after they have lost a game. They 
take games too seriously. They have lost all sense of an "extra-game" 
reality, and their obsession harms intimate and familial relationships, 
it leads to keyboards being broken, monitors being spat on, etc.

In the video work /No Fun/(2010), Franco Mattes dangled from the ceiling 
as a suicide victim to register the reactions of casual visitors to the 
website Chatroulette, that is otherwise being used for video chats 
between (often coincidental) visitors. Many interlocutors were shocked; 
however, the most shocking reactions were those of the people who were 
totally indifferent. For in the field of virtual reality, there is very 
little awareness of death, which is a natural and inevitable part of 
digital life. Death, not only as a political protest against corporate 
web environments (YouTube banned the screening of the video), but also 
as a consequence of a defect in the vital functions of a human organism 
or a hard drive.

*Plan C is a project by Ryan C Doyle, Eva and Franco Mattes aka 
0100101110101101.ORG with the collaboration of film makers Todd Chandler 
and Jeff Stark, photographer Tod Seelie and fabricator Steve Valdez. 
Plan C was originally commissioned by Abandon Normal Devices and 
Dispari&Dispari Project.

*Download the full text by Ida Hirs(enfelder here 
<http://www.aksioma.org/systsem/pdf/ida_hirsenfelder_fuck_the_systsem_eng.pdf>.
*

*
*

*Production: *Aksioma -- Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, 2011
_www.aksioma.org <http://www.aksioma.org/>_

Artistic director: Janez Jans(a
Executive producer: Marcela Okretic(
Public relations: Mojca Zupanic(
Technical support: Atila Bos(tjanc(ic(

*Co-production:* Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana

*Supported by* the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and 
the Municipality of Ljubljana/*
*//Sponsor: Datacenter d.o.o./


*Contact:*
Marcela Okretic(, 041 250 830, aksioma4 at siol.net <mailto:aksioma4 at siol.net>
*Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana*
Neubergerjeva 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
tel.: + 386 -- (0)590 - 54360
_www.aksioma.org <http://www.aksioma.org/>_
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