Life in the 20th Century | 225 Million Murders
An Augmented Reality Installation 2011
by Peter Weibel

Mobile devices, such as iPhone or iPads are used as photographic apparatus. The viewer or user wanders through the real space, looking through his iPhone or iPad into real space. In addition to the real space he sees on the iPhone or iPad screen, there is a globe floating in the air. When revolving 360 degrees in real space, he discovers ten globes in the air. A text is issued from each globe. On top of each globe is a date. Ten globes symbolize the ten decades of the 20th century. The numbers of one hundred years appear on ten globes. The number of a year appears on top of a globe, and for each year the number of political murders by genocide, war, etc. become visible. A drop of blood issues at regular intervals from each of the globes. A voice (in French) accompanies the numbers and pronounces the names of the genocides, wars, etc. What the viewer sees is the real environment; but with the aid of the mobile device you see more. Reality is augmented (with virtual globes, text and numbers).

The viewer, who walks around in real space may wonder why he sees and hears a chronology of genocides, political murders and wars occurring so close to him, not in some remote place, and happening in his own space. The answer could be that he is part of the system he observes; that he is part of the system in which he lives; that the system of which he is part is also part of genocides and wars. His local world is part of the global world. Inseparability is the name of the game. Perhaps, he wonders why natural catastrophes have destroyed only an extremely small number of people, whereas man-made catastrophes have destroyed the lives of millions. What kind of social system is it in which we live that kills 2 million two hundred thousand people each year?

Programming: Jens Barth
Research: Adam Rafinski