RIGHTDatingbackto
2002,America’sArmy
is perhapsthemost
successful‘militainment’
videogameseriesever
made.It hasbeen
exhibitedathundredsof
eventsaroundtheUS.
BELOWModernWarfare’s
DeathFromAbove
missionis a raucous
celebrationofairpower,a
highlightreelin whichthe
game’sopposingforces
arereducedtosmeary
silhouettesSABOTAGE TACTICS
ArtistandacademicJosephDeLappehasspentyearsattempting
tosubverttheideologiesofmilitaryvideogamesfromwithin.In
2006’sDead-In-Iraq,hetypedthenameanddateofdeathof
everyUSservicememberkilledin IraqintotheAmerica’sArmy
chatbox,turninga glossyrecruitmenttoolintoaneeriepublic
memorial.2016’sKillbox,createdinpartnershipwithScottish
developerBiomeCollective,simulatesa droneattackfromthe
pointofviewofoperatorandvictim.Itsreductionofhumansto
orbsanddeathlesswhite-on-greenenvironmentspeakstothe
difficultyofempathisingwitha targetwhenviewedthrougha
droneinterface.“I liketothinkthattheworkwilleventuallyreach
goodnumbersofpeople,”DeLappesays.“Particularlyyoung
peoplewhomaybearen’t thinking about the actual costs of
joining the military.”
ABOVEJosephDeLappe,
artistandprofessorof
gamesresearch.
BELOWAvailableon
Steam,Killboxtakesits
namefromthepracticeof
designatinga 3Dtarget
areaforaerialandindirect
fire,developedbytheUS
airforce in the 1980sPLAYTIME