During the art residency at PRAM our duo has investigated the methods of information warfare. Aiming to highlight the particular ways of manipulation by mass opinion, we displayed the main definitions through various art objects. Inspired by the “War with the Newts” novel by Czech writer Karel Čapek (1936), and discovering parallels with the modern geopolitical situation, my partner and I made novel's characters - salamanders, central figures to provide the artistic but objective explanation of main definitions of information warfare.
The sculpture of the raising hand represents a sockpuppet, a fake online identity used for deception. Installation made of artificial grass in the shape of cursor points on astroturfing, the way of faking the appearance of local, grass-roots activity. Digital photo collages reflect on the crucial role of media propaganda over the last ten years, showing the ghost-like salamanders as a cause of the social disturbance, political shakes, and war conflicts around the world.
ASCII art pieces show the very nature of information warfare, and how our thoughts, opinions, and relationships are written and programmed by the computer code.
We also created a small prototype of sock puppets factory, offering the viewer during the exhibition to immerse themselves into the structure of feelings of being an internet troll and use fake Facebook profiles to discover their own limits of being anonymous.
The project has been exhibited at the:
2017 PRAM gallery, Prague, Czech Republic: Part 1 Part 2
2018 Dymchuk gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine
