Wargames

Wargames (2016 - 2018) is a series of work and installations that scrutinise fake documents and their impact over contemporary military conflicts.

The project manifests itself, in the first instance, as a staged fake document workshop presented over a surface including everyday tools such as scissors and glue. Printed photographs are also positioned alongside cut out tokens which serve as guide to help contextualise various intel.

These tokens are placed over fake war pictures, including photographs of toy soldiers modified with Photoshop and also a variety of printed satellite views taken from google maps.

One of these locations was the University of the Arts, Central Saint Martins in London where I was working on this project at the time, it was built over an area of London which was bombed during the Second World War.

The inspiration behind this project is drawn from the observation of the simplicity and replicability of the (now-confirmed as fake) evidence of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. These were presented to the United Nation Security Council in 2003 by the US government in order to justify their military intervention.

As the project evolved, it became an installation inspired by board games such as Risk, centering on the Syrian conflict. In this game the players use dice and toy soldiers strategically placed on different territories within the game board, which represents a map of Syria.

Drawing inspiration from Syrialiveuamap, an interactive live map reflecting news updates on the Syrian conflict, each faction is assigned territories and toy soldiers that follow a colour code mirroring the assignation from Syrialiveeuamap: red for the Syrian government, green for the rebel factions, yellow for the Kurds, black for ISIS, and blue for the Western coalition.

The game also includes cards divided into three categories: Intervention, Death from above and Terror, each detailing a type of action that players can do to ensure victory. These cards are illustrated to present real images related to various contemporary conflicts in the Middle East. They also include images of politicians involved, adding a layer of realism.

The installation blends the strategic essence of board games with the gravity of real-world conflicts, inviting viewers to contemplate the manipulative nature of political narratives and the consequences of deceptive practices on the global geopolitical scene.