GAME ART: LING TAN'S PLAYING DEMOCRACY (2020)
Playing Democracy is an interactive installation designed by Singaporean artist Ling Tan. A colossal multiplayer game of Pong, Playing Democracy explores in a playful way the meaning of collaboration and participation within political contexts. Structured as a competitive game of Pong, the audience controls the game paddles using their body movement tracked by a camera. Players have the option of cooperating with each other, modify the rules or violate them, which can cause the game to implode. The project, which was commissioned by Barbican and Lumen Arts Projects, uses game-like mechanics to rethink the values of politics. In this case, democracy is described as a system based on such values as fairness, freedom, and equality.
Ling Tan is a UK based Singaporean multidisciplinary designer and artist working within the field of social engagement, technology, citizen participation and politics. Originally trained as an architect, her work explores citizens’ interaction with the built environment and our collective agency and responsibility in tackling complex issues surrounding our cities. She works with diverse communities across the UK and internationally in helping them make sense of their environment, express opinions in a playful and performative way, and collectively address issues such as public safety, air quality, climate change, gender, demographics and race. She designs, fabricates and create the software for her work, ranging from wearable technology, interactive installations.
Images and video (c) Ling Tan
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