Dystanbul

exhibited in: bang. Prix 2019

A city, where the long expected earthquake hasn’t hit, already exceeded the maximum population, stripped down from all the greenery, too cramped for urban transformation and thus, growing upwards, since growing sideways is not an option anymore and where there’s class discrimination between skyscrapers’ stories. In this dystopian city, where everyone lives as if they will still not die, a creature, a fruit of evolution and mutation, comes into scene and starts destroying apartment buildings, business towers and factories. Maybe it’s avenging  nature, maybe overwhelmed by rage against humanity, or maybe just enjoying destruction…

In this simulation, where the viewer assumes the form of that creature, a “dystopia” is described and a city -with all the living types and classes within- is destroyed. It’s planned to give these feelings to, and put that responsibility and weight on the viewers’ shoulders.

Project consists of the viewer in front of the screen, including themselves in the experience and become the “experiencer”, rather than just the viewer. Gestures of the experiencer are translated to the avatar in the simulation and the person finds themselves in the city, mirrored. The experiencer can wander freely within the area detected by the kinect sensor and can interact with the buildings around them, can create chaos, or try to pass through, avoiding destruction.

Only 1 person can be in the simulation at once. When gone out of the sensor area, the scene will reset itself, preparing the city for other experiencers.