Photo credits Nicole Marnati
Old Dog New Tricks is an interactive installation that draws parallels between how dogs and people are trained for war. This training requires certain spaces (conflict spaces
and training spaces) and different stakeholders (trainers, dog, soldiers and governments). There’s a real turning point when the dog moves from being a living being
to a weapon.
Training Zone(Netherlands) VS Conflict Zone(Israel-Palestine) Self-documentation & Found Footage
Dogs are trained in the Netherlands and deployed in conflict zones in other countries, such as Israel and Palestine. These dogs are officially classed as pets to bypass regulations, but in reality, they are being turned into weapons, just as people are trained to become soldiers.
It is also questioning legal loopholes of semantics, as dogs are trained in the NL and deployed in conflict zones in other countries, such as Israel and Palestine. These dogs are officially classed as pets to bypass regulations, but in reality they are being turned into weapons, just as people are trained to become soldiers who carry the responsibility over the life and death of those dogs. Countries and specific roles like trainers and soldiers set borders that people use to play on the legality and morality of the situation.
Through a stick clamped between your teeth on a custom training ground, you can hear a narrative about how man and his four-footed friends are conditioned for conflict.
A ‘trainer’ is present to guide participants and reward them for correctly following commands.
Installation trailer
Live Performances
The memorial stone at the IDF K-9 unit in Israel. Animation by Lucas Zito Luiser
Photo credits Yarden Colsey 2009
Photo credits Yarden Colsey 2009
Concept, Design;
Yarden Colsey
Performers;
Yarden Colsey
Thomas Meulendijks
Voiceover;
Job Claassen
Sound Engineer;
Noam Ofir
Collaboration, Script and Dramaturgy;
Nir Shauloff
Guidance;
Nacho Carbonell
Rinat Edelstein
Melkweg Award nomination
Design Academy Eindhoven 2019
Kazerne Design Awards nomination 2020
Special thanks to;
Mom and Dad, Ofer Kantor, Marie Rime, Ariana Radu, Ethan Braunstein, Noa Segal, Yuval Harel,
Luiza Guidi Tomio, Louise Gholam, Ilia Grosz, Roey Alfassi, Clara Le Meur, Ellen Pearson, Yaniv Schonfeld, Yosef Mashiach, Nadav Assor, Marcis Lapins, Gilad Grinberg, Ehud Cappon, Lucas Zito Louisor.