Statement from Oliver and Vasiliev, Transmediale 2014

We, the creators of 'PRISM: The Beacon Frame', wish to express our
disappointment at the disabling of a crucial element of this work at
Transmediale 2014, with the threat of reporting us to the German Federal Police.

As such we've agreed that it is not in our interests to maintain the work in its
original form.

It was our intention to provide an opportunity for public to critically engage
precisely the same methods of cellular communications interception used by
certain governments against their own people and people in sovereign states. It
was not, in any way, our intention to harm anyone and nor did we.

We note that the German Parliament, right next door, has suffered directly by
way of such violations.

It is vital that technology-based art remain a frame with which we can develop
critical discourses about the world we live in, from the engineered to the
cultural and political. Sometimes that requires that we are not limited by
exaggerated fears and legal definition, but that we act proportionally and with
conscience in our efforts to understand the power struggles and tensions in our
(technically mediated) environment.

Sometimes this means taking risks, risks without intention to harm but to
engender wider critical insights.

We wish to thank the Festival Director and the Curatorial Team from ArtHackDay
and LEAP for representing us to the best of their ability.

   "The Critical Engineer considers the exploit to be the most desirable form of
    exposure."

Julian Oliver and Daniil Vasiliev
http://criticalengineering.org