Armed and Dangerous is a project bringing together a group of Ukrainian artists who work at the intersection of contemporary art and experimental cinema. It was initiated by Mykola Ridnyi in 2017 when he created the first video episodes that started the series. After his own production, he invited other authors to create short films exploring the phenomenon of violence in everyday life. As a result, the collective body of works was shown and exists in different representative formats: as a moving image exhibition, screening program and online platform – www.ozbroeni.in.ua. Armed and Dangerous explores the militarization of society and, in particular, the attitude of Ukrainian youth to violence and weapons. Much attention is paid to the patriotic and militaristic education of children, both in schools and at sport camps. In this context, the problem of domestic violence, which largely affects women and children, remains virtually unnoticed in the Ukrainian political landscape.

The Russian annexation of the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the outbreak of war in the Donbass region in 2014 radically changed the social and political climate in Ukraine. The toxicity of war spread out from the hot spots, making one search for enemies where there are none. The logic of the «hostile environment» prompts a return to the cult of power and masculinity, in which any indication of diversity or otherness is regarded as a threat to «order». In the need to defend themselves against the aggression of the Russian Federation, Ukrainians often ignore and some even support the unconscionable actions of right-wing radicals. Often, the problem of violent attacks on representatives of the LGBTQ+ and Roma communities is only seen by the victims and their milieus.  

The narratives of the episodes in Armed and Dangerous are about people seeking to emancipate themselves and to emancipate society while existing in an aggressively conservative environment. What is the role of the moving image in this process? Much of the world still finds out about political events through the TV; young people are mainly exposed to video blogs. At the same time, popular movies, which are also full of political messages, are slowly moving from cinemas to commercial online platforms. YouTube and the increasing popularity of shocking content and cinema production with attractive goals have lots in common and have had a significant influence on each other in recent decades. The perception of reality is predetermined by representations and simulations. The more moving images determine social outlooks, the less linear the connection between objective reality and its representations on the screen. This context forces artists to resort to inter-media expressions, appropriating forms of moving image such as staged or documentary cinema, television broadcasting, video blogs or archival footage, reflecting and going beyond the original sources.