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War is not a game - Belgium 2009-2011 I have just been sent, My call up papers, To leave for war, Before Wednesday evening, Mr President, I don’t want to do this, I’m not on this earth, To kill poor people, (…) Boris Vian, 1954. Ripped open buses, turned over earth, exploded cars and, here and there, overequipped soldiers, rooted to the spot, proudly showing off their heavy weapons. And then suddenly everything comes alive. They crawl, shoot, run. They kill and die. But not for real! More than a hundred people met up for a weekend in a paintball club lost in the middle of the Ardennes forest. They have come from The Netherlands, France and Germany in ‘squads’ of ten to play at war. A head-on encounter with these dehumanised beings wearing frightening masks and whose bodies merge into the surrounding vegetation. The human condition is strange that it leads certain individuals, who were lucky enough to escape the ravages of war, to play at it with passion in a life size decor. |
