"War is the highest form of modern art."
F. T. Marinetti

This interactive installation begins as an investigation of reality and simulation and how we perceive and experience war. In 1980, Paul Virilio wrote about the relationship between war and aesthetics arguing that war consists of the organization of the "field of perception". And nowadays the tragedy of war is increasingly mediated through technology and no longer through human beings with moral responsibilities. The tactile experience of war, which assumes the administration of military power, as well as an understanding of death from a safe distance, have become shaped by what Virilio refers to as the "scientific mode of destruction". We continue to accept violence and destruction from the media which informs our life experience, just as we have conditioned our bodies to rely on artificial interfaces to the natural world.

Wargames situates willing participants within a threshold of moral responsibility and the technology of 3D simulation. A modified version of the classic tank game Battlezone has been re-engineered to administer electric shocks to the body whenever enemy tanks are destroyed. The game requires 2 players who sit opposite each other, but together they are a team. Player 1 is the dominant first-person shooter (gunner) and Player 2 the submissive pain-receiver (martyr). Unlike other games or art, in Wargames there are real-life, painful consequences embedded into the rules of engagement. Atari released Battlezone in 1980 marking a significant moment in history since it’s widely considered the first true virtual reality game. The '3D' game opened up a virtual "window into the world" in terms of visual simulation and screen-based interactivity. The US Military immediately took notice and commissioned a version of it called The Bradley Trainer, which became the Army’s first video game training device, a practice which continues even today.