At the time the domane www.orozje.com (www.weapons.com) was not yet taken. We subverted the casual way in which violence is presented online, appearing without any context or indication of the violence that it brings. The subtitle of the project Trash for Trash is significant, because it is representing the war machines in the most honest way. The “weapons” that we presented as a part of an online mock-shop, were all constructed solely of rubbish and waste material. The aim of this was that they not only do not work, but must also never be functional.
The context of the project was supported by a publication, a manual, which otherwise rarely makes it on bookshelves. It is usually found in the vicinity of electronic devices in workshops and households. It is consulted when a system breaks down, the frequency of which is proportionate to the quality of the device. A manual provides practical information and is seldom read from the first to the last page. If equipped with sufficiently descriptive diagrams it sometimes requires no reading at all. The manual in your hands is part of an artistic process that begun with the use of various media in 2005. It offers some practical ways for making and using arms. Its main aim is to correct convictions in order to facilitate the image of a world without weapons. It reflects on several assumptions on the usefulness of weapons, but does not offer pre-set ethical or moral answers. It rather expects that readers themselves will make the necessary conclusions. The motivation for carrying out the project came from the absurdity of everyday news reports about the existence of weapons and …
[artist | sculptor] Natan
[artist | book design and concept] Saša Kerkoš
[curator] Ida Hiršenfelder
[text writers] Mirt Komel, Ida Hiršenfelder, Mitja Velikonja
[exhibition] Ministry of Defence, 12 – 28 June 2006
[production and publishing] Tretaroka
[not supported by] Ministry of Culture
[supported by] Ministry of Defence
[other installations] meinewaffe.com / Trash for Trash, part of Homo bellicus group exhibition, Berlin, Germany, 2007 & oruzje.com / Trash for Trash, VN Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia, 2008
[press] Art_Area_80, @ Radio Študent, 22 November 2006; Hyldig Dal, Mikala, edit., Homo bellicus. A Genealogy of War: international exhibition of contemporary art, Berlin: Gold + Grüne Wälder, 2007