Julian Assange, "The World Tomorrow" Video, 28:00 min. Installation view
Whistleblowers & Vigilantes — Figures of Digital Resistance
Through art works, TV clips, surveillance video, documentary and historical documents the controversial exhibition Whistleblowers & Vigilantes presents new perspectives on the intensive debate on whistleblowers. The exhibition is featuring Anonymous, Julian Assange, DIS, Omer Fast, Chelsea Manning, Metahaven and Edward Snowden. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with HMKV in Dortmund and curated by Inke Arns and Jens Kabish.
Metahaven, "Black Transparency", 2014. Silk scarves, objects, video (14:00 min). Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes', Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.
Who owns the right to define whether whistleblowers are heroes or enemies of society? This question is posed by the controversial exhibition Whistleblowers & Vigilantes showcasing several main protagonists, positions and strategies of digital resistance past and present. The exhibition will be on view at Kunsthal Charlottenborg throughout summer.
Through artworks, TV-clips, surveillance footage, documentaries and historical documents, the exhibition Whistleblowers & Vigilantes presents the most important protagonists and various forms of resistance, together with activist strategies and considerations of the legal implications that surround these.
In this way the exhibition provides a range of perspectives on the intense debate around whistleblowers and digital activism which has prevailed in recent years, specifically in connection with Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning’s disclosure of confidential material. These three whistleblowers are represented in the exhibition alongside Anonymous, DIS, Ted Kaczynski (UNA-bomber), Etoy, Omer Fast, Peng! Collective, Metahaven and others.
The exhibition also examines what links whistleblowers, hackers, activists, artists and other exponents of the radical type of online activism, known as ‘internet vigilantism’ or simply ‘digilantism’, which has flourished since 1996.
At the same time, historical allusions are made to the resistance against state surveillance, as well as technological and economically motivated surveillance throughout the past 45 years.
The exhibition is curated by Inke Arns and Jens Kasich and organised in collaboration with Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund. Supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, The Obel Family Foundation and Goethe-Institut Dänemark.
Omer Fast, "5,000 Feet is the Best", 2011. HD Video, 30.00 min. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes', Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Courtesy of the artist, Arratia Beer, Berlin and gb agency, Paris. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Etoy, "Toywar", 1999/2000. Documentation. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Peng! Collective, "Intelexit: Call-A-Spy", 2015. Installation. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Ted Kaczynski, "Industrial Society and Its Future", 1995. Handwritten papers in frames. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Lutz Dammbeck, "Letter to Me (AT)", 2016. 193 Framed paperwork, 32 x 23 cm, DVD loop, Approx. 60:00 min. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Various, "War On Whistleblowers", 2003-2015. 11 videos, 2:30 – 15:19 min. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.'With Cult of the Dead Cow' , Critical Art Ensemble: 'Electronic Civil Disobedience & Other Unpopular Ideas', Electronic Disturbance Theater: 'FloodNet', Anonymous: 'Low Orbit Ion Cannon', Lizard Squad: 'Lizard Stresser'Daniel Elsberg, "Pentagon Papers", 1971. Boxes of papers. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Ubermorgen, "Vote-Auction", 2000. Video, 27:08 min., carpet. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Courtesy of the artists and Carroll/Fletcher Gallery, London.Trevor Paglen, "Five Classified Aircraft" + "Five Classifed Squadrons", 2007. Ten fabric patches. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Anonymous, "Four films", since 2006. TV Screens, Four videos, 1:14 – 5:07 min. + Dominic Gagnon, "Pieces and Love All to Hell" (2011). Video, 61 min. + "RIP in Pieces America" 2009. Video, 61 min. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Various, "I did it for the lulz", 2016. Wall paper, 4x3 mtr. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.Lutz Dammbeck, "Cabin", 2003. A reconstructino of the Unabomber’s cabin. Installation view from 'Whistleblowers & Vigilantes, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2017. Photo by Anders Sune Berg.
