Dictionary of War - Frankfurt Edition
"At least, when we create concepts, we are doing something"
DICTIONARY OF WAR, 2 and 3 June 2006, in Frankfurt/Main
The new war, post-modern war, permanent war -- almost every major military operation over the past 15 years has evoked a new debate about the new character of war. After 9-11 state of war has turned into a normality. Five years of global war have turned the world upside down, in a way that the extent of the ongoing changes cannot be fully conceived yet.
On June 2 and 3 the first edition of DICTIONARY OF WAR takes place as a collaborative platform for creating concepts on the issue of war. At four public, two-day events in Frankfurt, Munich, Graz and Berlin 100 concepts are invented, arranged and presented by scientists, artists, theorists and activists.
The aim is to create key concepts that either play a significant role in current discussions of war, have so far been neglected, or have yet to be created. DICTIONARY OF WAR tries to make the creation or revaluation of concepts transparent into more or less open processes in which one can and need to intervene in various ways.
?At least, when we create concepts, we are doing something.? The idea of DICTIONARY OF WAR refers to the theory of creating concepts proposed by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari: Concepts do not fall from heaven but must be invented, created, produced; concepts refer to problems without which they would be meaningless. It is not about definitions, anecdotes, original opinions or entertainment, but rather about finding out about the tools with which to attain new ideas.
The Frankfurt edition of DICTIONARY OF WAR features contributions by:
The artist group "Apsolutno" from Novi Sad; the sound artists "Battery Operated from Montreal; the artist Shu Lea Cheang; the London based architect Celine Condorelli; writer Dietmar Dath from "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"; choreographers Kattrin Deufert & Thomas Plischke aka "Frankfurter Küche"; filmmaker Azza El-Hassan from Ramallah; Berlin based curator Anselm Franke; the swedish artist duo Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Thomas Nordanstad; the artist group "International Festival" from Brussels and Stockholm; Beirut based media activist Manse Jacobi; the austrian musician Christof Kurzmann; filmmaker Angela Melitopolous from Cologne; military researcher Simon Naveh from Tel Aviv; DJ Hans Nieswandt from Cologne; John Palmesino, co-founder of the "Multiplicity" group; romanian artist Dan Perjovschi; dutch theater director Jan Ritsema; art theorist Irit Rogoff, professor at Goldsmith College London; sociologist Saskia Sassen, professor in Chicago; author Nicolas Siepen from Berlin; Paris based filmmaker Eyal Sivan; Rob Stone, London based therorist; the Frankfurt based philosopher Matthias Vogel; New York based architect Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss; London based architect Eyal Weizman; architect Ines Weizman from London; Berlin based writer Raul Zelik; filmmaker Zelimir Zilnik from Novi Sad.
The concepts are introduced in alphabetical order by their concept persons in half-hour long presentations or performances.
More informations at:http://dictionaryofwar.org/frankfurt
DICTIONARY OF WAR is a project by Multitude e.V. and Unfriendly Takeover, in collaboration with international academy Staedelschule. DICTIONARY OF WAR is supported by the Federal Culture Foundation, Germany.