Readiness Civil War: From ENTER to Berlin and Maastricht supported by Onassis Culture
Welcome to the world of Readiness SAGA
Kostis Stafylakis and Theo Triantafyllidis present the premiere of their new project “Readiness: Civil War” in Berlin (Panke Gallery from 26 March until 9 April 2022) and Maastricht (Prepper Paradise from 26 March until 14 August 2022), as a new, updated version of an Onassis Stegi and Onassis USA commission, produced during the first lockdown, in May 2020. A video game turned into a movie, then turned into a video installation.
Through a short 16min film the creators of “Readiness Civil War” follow the story of three clans of lunatics and their surrealistic rituals. Just like religious fanatics, the film’s protagonists find themselves entangled in a civil war and, while they eagerly anticipate Judgement Day, they embark on a battle for survival disguised as a post-humanistic video game.
Featuring several artists from the Greek visual arts scene, the work was shot only a few weeks prior to the January 2021 US Capitol attack.
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“Readiness: Civil War” (2022) is the latest episode in the “Readiness SAGA,” a serialized simulation of social conflict in the US. Kostis Stafylakis and Theo Triantafyllidis – alongside a shifting synthesis of collaborators – tailor real and fictional identities and scenarios to a fantasy world made of colorful salvage. By fore-playing the pending scenarios of an American Civil War, the “Readiness SAGA” forecasted situations that awkwardly resemble the dramatic January 2021 incidents at the US Capitol. The “Readiness SAGA” narrates a conflict between the “Preppers” (doomsday enthusiasts who marshal for the “end of the world as we know it”), the “Boogaloo Bois” (Civil War accelerationists, flexing tactical gear and Hawaiian shirts), and the “Golden Horde” (the alleged criminal horde of the unprepared citizens featured in preppers’ jargon and literature).
In “Readiness: Civil War,” the machinic vision of an AI called Pascale processes filmed footage showing an unknown group roleplaying an epic battle between three clans: the Preppers, the Golden Horde, and the Boogaloo Bois. This footage was filmed during a chamber Live Action Role-Playing session (“Readiness the LARP”) that took place in Athens (October 2020), a few months prior to the attack on the US Capitol. According to the narrative reconstructed by the AI, the Preppers try to develop a fungus that can kill the villainous Golden Horde. The Preppers’ world is ruled by a mysterious Oracle who reigns alongside a sacred figure called Jeso. The Preppers have imprisoned Batu, the leader of the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde attacks to free Batu, loot weapons, steal tools. But the mischievous Boogaloo Bois have different plans…Supported by Onassis Culture
Vasilis Bakalis | Stathis Chalkias | Alexis Fidetzis | Sotiris Fokeas | Christos Fousekis | Marilia Kaisar | Kosmas Kosmopoulos | Markella Ksilogiannopoulou | Anna Samara | Lia Smaragda | Savvas Tsimouris | Vassilis Vlastaras | Poka-Yio
“Notes to Readiness: Step 1” is a guide to prepare yourselves and your shelves.
Drawing on the reactionary cult of preppers (individuals and groups prepping for survival in scenarios of catastrophe and civil collapse), Kostis Stafylakis, Theo Triantafyllidis and Alexis Fidetzis use role play to develop a set of characters for “Readiness,” an immersive work that seeks to dissect the apocalyptic fantasies of preparedness.
“Readiness” unfolds in the form of an online epic battle between a group of preppers and the Golden Horde, the rampant mass of the ‘unprepared,’ in preppers’ patriotic jargon and literature. Using a tabletop play structure that extends to domestic environments, the artists produce a live stream that interacts with the YouTube audience via Live Chat. In a play mode, these characters will share notes on readiness, suggest strategies of survival, and develop a sensual lexicon for our on-going confinement.
This artwork was created in the context of ENTER project, an initiative of Onassis Foundation. During the first lockdown, in May 20202, Onassis Stegi and Onassis USA gave artists from all around the world 120 hours to create from home a series of new original commissions; sharing their new reality. Let’s ENTER.
