Operational Art an exhibition and participatory project by James Wallbank Exhibition Preview & Artist Talk Friday 11th March 5.30-8.00pm - all welcome
Exhibition 12th March - 30th April, Tues-Sat, 11am-7pm Info at access-space.org Facebook event at tinyurl.com/6y9cswx "In our complex, networked culture, it's hard to see what's important and what's peripheral. What appears to be significant may be deceptive advertorial, misinformation, or just more media hype. Operational Art can help us think, plan and act smarter, especially when we can't see exactly what's going on. A highly effective Red Army doctrine, Operational Art was adopted by the British Army in the 1980's and was used in both Gulf Wars. So what can creative artists learn from systems of destruction? More than you might imagine.” An Invasion of Ideas - a suggestion box using the entire city. * Get involved! Come to Access Space any time and learn to make origami tanks (see photo attached). * Your tank is an idea. What's written on the paper your tank is made of? * Stage micro-invasions by deploying tanks in unexpected places which relate to your ideas. Make the entire city a suggestion box using the origami tank as a metaphor: tanks can be used by governments to suppress freedom of ideas and freedom of speech. Here we ask you to use them as an agent of communication – and nobody gets hurt! *Operational Art Workshop Saturday 26th March 2pm Free - all welcome* A workshop on the ideas behind Operational Art and how to create things using these ideas. Also, bring a photograph of any environment and James will show you how to create digital camouflage for it...living room, office, supermarket, pub, bedroom, sub-Saharan battle zone, allotment, art gallery, you name it! "The ideas behind Operational Art pre-date the 1920's, and, it emerges, are neither solely, nor most constructively, applicable to warfare. They represent highly effective ways to think and act in complex situations in which: *you need to get a job done, *you aren't sure what is happening, *you don't know what is significant, *you may be weak or inadequately resourced, *there is something working against you. This way of thinking and acting is evident in military writers throughout history. In the 1820's Carl von Clausewitz wrote On War, which is often cited as the origin of Operational Art, but Sun Tsu's The Art of War encapsulates key elements of Operational Art and was written in the fifth century BC. Even now The Art of War is used by business people in Japan as a guide to the strategy and tactics they may employ. In preparation for this exhibition I have researched the latest military thinking. With its doctrine of openness, the US military in particular, is extraordinarily free with its ideas and information. Informed by genuine current doctrine and training materials, the action proposed will develop, activate and transmit ideas around Operational Art for personal empowerment. The concept has been developed, and the installation of the exhibition will be undertaken, using operational procedures. It will make use of key military principals: Surprise, Simplicity, and Unity of Effort. The exhibition is a Combined Operation involving mixed media, found objects, text, photographs, research material, paintings and collectively made artefacts. " _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
