[Rumori] Fwd: Fake European propaganda movie hits Austria and Bologna

[Steev Hise]

what a great project. i wish it were a real film, i'd love to see it...
steev

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Franco Mattes <Propaganda at 0100101110101101.org>
> Date: January 22, 2006 4:41:15 PM MST
> To: nuria_oliv at hotmail.com
> Subject: Fake European propaganda movie hits Austria and Bologna
>
>
> 22 January 2006, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
> Fake European propaganda movie hits Austria and Bologna
> Mattes' grand artwork keeps on spreading in both the public and the  
> media space.
>
>
> 'United We Stand' is the title of the much-hyped spy/action movie  
> wholly produced by Europe, a large-scale propagandistic stunt that has  
> in the past few months stirred much controversy. Too bad the movie  
> doesn't actually exist, but it is instead the latest insane  
> provocation of the artists' couple Eva and Franco Mattes, better known  
> as 0100101110101101.ORG. After Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, New York  
> and Bangalore, the gigantic performance has now landed in Austria and  
> Bologna.
>
> While the movie itself doesn't exist, the actors and the flashy poster  
> do. They portray the inspired faces of the main characters surrounded  
> by the blue of the European flag and by gruesome war scenes. The  
> movie's Web site also exists - www.UnitedWeStandMovie.com - and it is  
> accompanied by an extensive advertising campaign covering half the  
> globe, causing extreme reactions in both the streets and the media.
>
> "United We Stand" Eva Mattes explains "mimics the typical Hollywood  
> action movie where the US always wins and saves the world. We have  
> used their clichéd visual elements, but we have replaced their flag  
> with the European one. The outcome is quite disturbing, it seems to me  
> that it better communicates what we often take for granted, rather  
> than stating what it truly represents".
>
> In the past months, the movie's posters have appeared on the remains  
> of the Berlin wall, in front of the European Parliament, underneath  
> the Empire State Building and on the picturesque walls of Bangalore,  
> India. The campaign reaches across small urban centers as well as the  
> advertising-crowded streets of global metropolises. Right now, as  
> Austria is about to take over the European presidency,  the  
> advertising for 'United We Stand' is appearing on dozens of large  
> advertising billboards along the Austrian roads, visible from hundreds  
> of yards away.
>
> Still in Europe, but just further south, in Bologna, Italy, the flocks  
> of movie fans that notoriously crowd the city have lately been  
> wondering how a blockbuster movie with such big names as Ewan McGregor  
> and Penelope Cruz could be released without them knowing it in  
> advance. Different reactions were found on the McGregor's official fan  
> site: "If Ewan decided to do it, I would definitely see it!".
>
> "The choice of the subject" writes Flavia De Sanctis Mangelli on the  
> Italian newspaper l'Unità during the days of the New York campaign "a  
> supposed war between the United States and China, with Europe trying  
> to solve the case through diplomacy, is soaked with subtle and ironic  
> provocation. How will Europe convince the two super powers? How can  
> European political culture stand up to the great propaganda  
> simplifications of Hollywood? The work is a poignant take on the  
> tremendous power that the media has in the formation of consensus, as  
> well as a biting political satire against a very small Europe, that  
> only united could succeed in having its voice heard".
>
> The enormous artwork keeps on spreading, exploiting any existing  
> medium, from the traditional news media, such as TV and the press, to  
> word-of-mouth and the Internet. "United We Stand" writes Ben Davis on  
> Artnet Magazine "with its focus on rejiggering pop cultural codes in  
> social space, is a canny updating of Pop art for the age of viral  
> marketing, when the mass media has penetrated firmly into the  
> everyday".
>
>
>
> Parallel to the international promotional campaign, the work is  
> exhibited until January the 21st at Postmasters Gallery, New York, and  
> at Arte Fiera (January 27-30), in the Fabio Paris Art Gallery (Pad.  
> 21, Stand B15).
>
>
>
> About the authors
>
> Eva and Franco Mattes - internationally known as 0100101110101101.ORG  
> - are a couple of restless European con-artists who use  
> non-conventional communication tactics to obtain the largest  
> visibility with the minimal effort. Past works include inventing and  
> promoting a nonexistent artist; spreading a computer virus as a work  
> of art; challenging and defeating Nike Corporation in a legal battle  
> for a fake advertising campaign.
>
>
>
> --
>
> To contact Eva e Franco Mattes:  
> http://0100101110101101.org/contacts.html
>
> More info:
> http://www.0100101110101101.ORG
> http://www.UnitedWeStandMovie.com
> http://www.postmastersart.com
> http://www.fabioparisartgallery.com
>
>
>
Steev Hise |  steev at detritus.net | http://detritus.net/steev
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"If progressives fail to resist militarism or refuse participation in  
it through the one form
of participation that is demanded, that is to pay taxes, they should  
give up their pretensions
to being in opposition."
                 - Karl Meyer, war tax resister
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