GAME 191

GAME 191 frames an artistic intervention in public space on the theme of “statehood” called Game 191. Through the interaction, I called on bystanders to engage in game / play with military caps.

I cooperated with children from elementary school Mazorník in Brezno and with children in the settlement near Sásová in Banská Bystrica.

Together, during the folding and painting, gluing, to paper “military” hats, we discussed the history and present of the UN organization, its members, the declaration, the process of creation and stereotypes of national identities.

Children began to create their own states and discover new ones. They played on soldiers and at the same time concluded peace treaties.

50 children aged 6 - 14 years.

They were made of paper by the method of participation by children aged 6-14, who painted national flags on them during the game and peace talks. For the number of caps 191 I used the number of states recognized by the United Nations, I thus indirectly refer to the reality of redistribution of the world, which is not finite. The assessment of the “statehood” or “sovereignty” of a state depends on several criteria as well as definitions in international law. Intervention asks about the nature of the nation states - how and by what they identify themselves. What is able to recall one character? What can be caused by a simple symbol in the emotions and decisions of citizens who feel part of the so-called national unity, which is ultimately only the highest fiction - an effective instrument of power? When and where all of this remains at the level of a child’s play, and when can it be dangerous to play?

Installed during the happening at the SNP memorial in Banská Bystrica.