<nettime> [ The Thing ] Opening 04.23.04 > MY DOOMSDAY WEAPON

[THE THING <events@thing.net>]

MY DOOMSDAY WEAPON
An exhibition by Jakob S. Boeskov

April 23 - May 21 2004, Mon-Fri 1-6 pm 

>> Opening Talk: April 23 2004, 6 –7 pm 
>> Opening Reception: April 23 2004, 7-10 pm

THE THING
601 West 26th Street, Floor 4 New York, NY 10001
t: (212) 937-0444 
w: http://bbs.thing.net 
e: events@thing.net

Weapons that shoot microchips into the bodies of innocent civilians. An artist 
smuggling blueprints for fake technology inside China’s first international 
weapons fair. Laughing arms traders drinking 30-year-old Chivas Regal among 
teenage models advertising new weapons. No, it’s not a chilling sci-fi movie; 
it’s reality, and a project by Danish artist Jakob S. Boeskov.

Boeskov traveled to Beijing in June 2002 posing as the CEO of Empire North, a 
fictional Scandinavian arms company. He infiltrated CIEPE (China International 
Exhibition on Police Equipment) -- an event where, for the first time, jet-
setting international weapons dealers rubbed shoulders in China. In order to 
blend in, Boeskov brought 300 fake business cards and a poster of a horrific, 
hi-tech weapon. This weapon, the ID Sniper, was designed to shoot GPS (Global 
Positioning System) microchips into the bodies of innocent civilians, whose 
movements later could be followed by authorities via a GPS satellite system. 
Boeskov describes the 3 days at the weapons fair as “the worst 3 days of my 
life, like being trapped inside a nightmarish sci-fi novel that you authored 
yourself.”

With MY DOOMSDAY WEAPON, Boeskov develops what he calls “Fictionalism,” 
illustrating a need for political art to take risks by “hacking reality.” He 
asks artists to “Turn your worst fears about the future into a product. Present 
this product in present day reality. Report the reactions.”

To read Boeskov's essay on the CIEPE and Empire North, please visit:

http://events.thing.net/Boeskov_text.html

And to hear Boskov speak about this project on the WNYC program The Next Big 
Thing, visit: www.nextbigthing.org/archive/episode.html?04092004

Jakob S. Boeskov was born in 1975 and lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. MY DOOMSDAY 
WEAPON is his first New York solo exhibition. For more information about 
Boeskov and Empire North, see www.jakobboeskov.com and www.empirenorth.dk. He 
can be contacted at: jakobboeskov@mail.dk.

For an online version: http://events.thing.net

----------------

This exhibition is sponsored by the Danish Arts Council, the Committee For 
Visual Arts, and the Committee For International Art. THE THING is funded by 
the Rockefeller Foundation and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

---------------- 

THE THING /// 601 W 26th St 4th floor NY 10001 212.937.0444 

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