We Should Take Nothing for Granted...

Matthew Biederman, Marko Peljhan

Audio-Visual environment, electromagnetic infrastructure, software defined radio, 6 discreet audio channels, custom software, database, custom computer hardware, 27 dibond prints

2014-Present

The Systemic tactical environment addresses current positions and politics of privacy, surveillance and safety of the global citizenry in relation to the military industrial complexes and their visible and opaque 'secret state' structures. The title is based on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s famous speech of 1961 wherein he warns of the dangers of an unchecked military industrial complex, the extinction of creative free thinking within higher education, and the extraction of natural resources without consideration for their renewal. This address is extremely relevant today in light of recent revelations of massive surveillance programs, perpetual information and real wars, the reshaping of the university complex and intensified resource extraction. Eisenhower's speech was not a dark forecast but instead stated that ‘…an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals…’ The text serves as the foundation for a set of Systemic activities in the fields of communications security, data aggregation, analysis and display. The work reflects on the conditions for the development of ‘an alert and knowledgeable citizenry’ in societal circumstances that, despite constitutional protections, do not warrant them.

Special Thanks to: Aljosa Abrahamsberg, Brian Springer, Uros Weber

Thanks to:
Ministry Of Culture, Republic Of Slovenia, City Of Ljubljana Cultural Department, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Wave Farm Residency Program (Acra, New York)

Exhibited at:
Ars Electronica, Linz AT 2017
FIELDS, 2014 Riga, Latvia (Curator: Armin Medosch)
Public Record, SPACE Gallery, Pittsburgh Biennial 2014 (Curator: Murray Horne)
Kapelica Gallery +++