For AB6, Helle Siljeholm has created an apparent guide on how to create Weapons of Mass Destruction at home. Through a home movie vlog, her character guides us to combine different chemical components that can easily be obtained. The threat of chemical weapons often becomes a diplomatic tool for political and economic speculation. Particular countries are singled out as malicious owners of such chemicals. By purportedly trivializing their production process, Siljeholm seeks to familiarize us with the idea that everyone can in fact produce a chemical weapon. Without ever actually showing how to create a WMD, the obnoxious character in the vlog inadvertently directs our attention to imperialist and racist media representations, the unscrupulous attention economy of the Internet, and the sick economic and political game at play in the weapons industry.

#WMD #massdestruction #weapons

photos: Nysos Vasilopoulos, 6th Athens Biennale 2018 ANTI