Ammunition project: A composition on invisible hands

Based on musical interpretations of barcodes on various products, A Composition on Invisible Hands, a work in progress, orbits the structures and mechanisms of economic logic and their existential effects. Furthermore, Natalia Schmidt combines the various aspects of her research in Ammunition Project, started in 2012 on a documentary, fictional and musical level. Based on an archeology and geneology of German weapons and ammunitions production, and on the politically justified weapons trade of the former DWM (German weapons and ammunition factories), as well as current arms companies, the project deals with the technical, historical, ethical and ecological conditions and consequences of weapons and ammunition production. The M8 x 57 IS cartridge forms the core as well as the narrative thread of the composition. In her site-specific link back to Karlsruhe (DWM), local as well as global dimensions combine their lethal, historical and economic impact: the prototype of world-leading military and hunting cartridges was first produced in Karlsruhe in 1904, and was, or is involved in numerous international conflicts. The barcodes heard in the music piece come from five countries (amongst others) where these cartridges are currently produced: Germany, Serbia, Sweden, Czech Republic, and the USA.

On March 17, 2017, a secret DWM file from the years 1942-1944 was temporarily returned to its place of origin, the former DWM. The project also tracks its contents.