alap parikh

why do we submit to mob rule? we like to think of ourselves as rational, responsible individuals in charge of our lives and destinies, but sometimes a cluster of beliefs and rumours overpower individuals and collective instincts take charge.

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captured puts you in a scenario where mob rule takes over. your face is captured and given a virtual body, and this avatar becomes a member of a  virtual community along with other captured avatars. the relations in the community are fickle: sometimes you are the bully; sometimes you are the bystander; sometimes you are the target. social pressure is bounced back from the avatar community to the audience where people follow their doubles in the animation.

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captured lets you explore the unclear boundaries between the collective and individual self, reflecting incidents of mob rule in contemporary information society. it takes shape as an interactive installation with 3d face reconstruction technology that generates avatars from people in real-time. The actions in the avatar community are controlled by AI, mixing narrative with simulation.