Violence and its Counterstrikes

The structural violence of globally networked, high-tech systems provokes resistance. Resistance by people forced off their land and deprived of food security; by people deployed in anonymous production chains or ensnared in the hopeless bureaucracy of systems. Counter-movements come alive: people demanding back their living space. Change can only be lasting when systems and institutions serve people and not just themselves. But the interests of the established order are large and entrenched. By ‘hacking’ systems, it is possible to reveal what they are hiding, where manipulation takes place and what can be done to circumvent them or to nudge them to operate to your advantage.

Artists, activists and people victimized by these predatory systems take the lead. Alternatives and safe havens for creativity appear, exactly where they are least expected.

Related artists are:

Bertille Bak
James Beckett
Joseph Beuys
Melanie Bonajo
Martijn Engelbregt
Claire Fontaine
Kendell Geers
Marco Godoy
Gottfried Haider
Nicoline van Harskamp
Lino Hellings
Susan Hiller
Jesús Huarte
Alfredo Jaar
Jeroen Jongeleen
William Kentridge
Frank Koolen
Hendrik van Leeuwen
Cristina Lucas
Hans van Lunteren en Ienke Kastelein
Angelica Mesiti
Navid Nuur
Christian Nyampeta
Pedro Reyes
Fernando Sánchez Castillo
Maarten Schuurman
Pilvi Takala
Moniek Toebosch
Merlijn Twaalfhoven
Dries Verhoeven
Zentrum für Politische Schönheit
!Mediengruppe Bitnik