The project see also: a set of compressed images and feelings is an interactive archive of pixelated, blurred and distorted war images of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During shelling and bombing, Ukrainians do not publish photographs and videos showing the places of damage or any material that would make it possible to determine the geographical position of these sites. However, people spread uninformative images that contain flashes, explosion sounds and emotional comments. Telegram channels publish these types of images (blurring, cropping and pixelating them) to increase the level of affective engagement from Ukrainian users. This disruption of images becomes a tool of resistance and solidarity. Like camouflage, such visual material hides information from the Russian military and creates additional protection for Ukrainians. Through emotional and visual compression, those who create the images consider the emotional and affective labour that is required from Ukrainians to engage with this kind of content and maintain solidarity, as well as their own engagement in emotional exploitation.

This archive (with limited control) reveals how the mechanics of cyber warfare and the mediatisation of warfare functions through algorithms, the emotional engagement of users, anxiety and information. The virtual space of the archive is divided into 4 sections. For instance, in one section, the user goes through ‘Hellish Starfall’, which is evidence of the use of phosphorus bombs by Russia. This Hellish Starfall is pixelated, translating the theatre of weapons into a theatre of perception as a metaphor. see also: a set of compressed images and feelings analyses how these collective experiences are distorted by digital infrastructures, policies and cyberwar, enduring despite their close proximity to the scaling and synchronising effects of technology.

fantastic little splash is a collective based in Ukraine, comprising journalist/artist Lera Malchenko and artist/director Oleksandr Hants. The collective combines art practice and media studies and is interested in utopias, dystopia, the collective imagination and its incarnations, projections, delusions and uncertainties. Established in 2016, their projects have been exhibited at transmediale, post.MoMA, Plokta TV, Ars Electronica, Liste Art Fair Basel, Construction festival VI x CYNETART, KISFF, MUHI and Docudays among others. They also participated in the transmediale x Pro Helvetia Residency 2022.