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Michael A. Rizzotti
Hacker-art refers to a combination
of recycled, appropriated or replicated art and sites available in cyberspace. Among
the more famous hacktivists are two
Italians by the name of Eva and Franco Mattes of 0100101110101101.org. They have been the
center of attention
ever since their infamous First Internet
Coup with Vaticano.org. The site is a replica of
Vatican.va, the official website of the Holy See. The duo
appropriated the site and inserted some heretical content of
their own. Fooling the visitors that they had reached
the
Vatican. The impostors wanted to benefit from the increasing
popularity of the Internet by re-directing the flood of duped believers from around
the world to their forged website. In less than a year the replicate site got
4 million hits.
In 2003 the pair were involved
in another Internet Coup with Nike Ground. A fake marketing
campaign exposing Nike’s fictitious intention
to buy public freeways and squares in major capitals of
Europe
and branding the newly
acquired property with the company’s logo.
Nike sued for trademark infringement. In a surprising verdict the
judge sided with the duo upholding their artistic freedom of expression.
The most recent Internet
Coup involves
Hollywood. It is
based on a mock advertising campaign for a blockbuster movie that will never be
made. The film is satirically entitled United We Stand. Once again the pair of hacktivists
caught many by surprise. Major cities like
Berlin,
Brussels,
Barcelona,
Vienna
and
New
York
were the target of an advertising campaign and
streets were wallpapered with posters. Fooling the observers
about the upcoming blockbuster movie staring Ewan McGregor and Penelope Cruz.
The story set in 2020, is about an European military mission to save the world from an apocalyptic war between the
United States
and
China. The
title is an appropriation of the
United We Stand slogan used during the 1940s to
promote American patriotism in a time of war. The trailer portrays
Europe
as a military super-power equal in stature to the
US
and
China
in a heroic mission to save the world from impending destruction.
Hacker-art succeeds in showing the ambivalent and subversive power of propaganda
by juxtaposing political roles.
In an interview with Libération
the
creators of 01.org revealed that the purpose of the advertising sham is not
directed specifically at
Hollywood
but
at movies like Saving Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down. The message is to
instill a critical analysis about the subversive nature of propaganda and about
how the medium is used to promote political and cultural supremacy.
Original
story: UnitaOnline.it
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