It's just a single swing of a shovel
by Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, 2015, 7'

Production and Postproduction: Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze   Special thanks to: Hayastan Shakarian, Tekla Aslanishvili; Till Wittwer; Azin Feizabadi; Hito Steyerl; Georgina Hill; Tamara Magradze; Levani Gagoshidze; Viktor Bonen
Music: Grace Jones “Corporate Cannibal”; Ludovico Einaudi “Quel che resta”; Chris Zabriskie “Cylinder Three”  
Courtesy the artist
Voiceover: Maxine Puorro     

Schermo dell'Arte - Archivio Film   Presented at VISIO – European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images - 4th edition in occasion of the exhibition VISIO. Next Generation Moving Images

March the 28th, 2011 is remembered in Georgia and Armenia as the date of one of the most serious computer crises in recent years. The Internet system of the two countries was down for hours, affecting millions of people. It is hard to believe that what was thought to be an act of cyberterrorism was actually caused by Hayastan Shakarian, a retired 75-year resident of a small village outside the capital. The lady, looking for copper to resell, had simply severed the main cable of the entire network of the two countries. By manipulating the story, and through a language that combines digital animation and documentary film-making, Gagoshidze’s film becomes an ironic celebration of this unaware hacking action and of the clash between real and virtual. The artist re-discusses cyberterrorism stereotypes, reminding us of the physical frailty of the global Internet network which now underpins our society and the system of information exchange.

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