KILL HEROES, interactive installation, 2024
Kill Heroes examines the tension between people and society, seeking a way of being that challenges taken-for-granted rules. By manifesting how systems manipulate our choices and identities, it aims to urge participants to awaken to their agency and explore ways to exist more consciously in a world often governed by unseen forces, encouraging them to question back. What is the hero that oppresses you and me? How are we being ‘taught’ without being aware? Why do we ‘volunteer’ to behave or act in certain ways? What is the point of being awake? What can we do to find the individuality we’ve lost? And how can we position ourselves more consciously? Who, or what, is on the other side of our questions?
As participants approach the installation, they are warned about access to their voice and image. Once their face is detected within the cubic space, the ‘game’ activates, and their headshot is taken for registration. In the following sessions, participants are guided by instructions to perform actions such as raising hands, opening mouths, and circles until a target frequency is satisfied. When they think they’ve ‘won,’ silent questions appear, asking about their motives for playing the game and following the rules at the cost of their information. These questions encourage connections to issues in daily life. Finally, participants are offered an option to question the system back, with their responses recorded.
This interactive installation employs a game structure supported by Python programming for real-time face recognition, headshot capture, motion detection, and audiovisual synchronization. The robotic components, controlled by Arduino, include arcade buttons, HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensors, and LED lights. Together, these elements create an immersive and responsive environment.