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PS4.
2008 - 2009. Installation with modified PS2 game play.

About the Project

"Kids in Congo were being sent down mines to die so that kids in Europe and America could kill imaginary aliens in their living rooms." – Oona King, former member of the British Parliament.

For over a decade, war has ravaged the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Fueled, in part, by an intense demand for natural resources, the war has claimed over 5 million lives. Coltan (Columbite-tantalite), a metallic ore from which the element tantalum is extracted, is one of the DRC’s most sought after resources. Tantalum is widely used in common electronic devices such as cell phones, computers and video game consoles.

Ps4 is an interactive video mash-up that juxtaposes documentary video footage with live video gameplay. Though initially conceptualized in response to reports of Sony’s large stake in the DRC’s bloody coltan trade during the production of its Playstation 2, Ps4’s playlist has since expanded to look at a variety of issues. On a general level, Ps4 explores the potentially alienating effects of gaming by derailing the seamless gameplay experience and offering a problematic and politicized view of so-called “immersive” leisure activities.

Sample Playlist:
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down + Congo's Bloody Coltan. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. www.pulitzercenter.org
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas + Congo's Bloody Coltan. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. www.pulitzercenter.org
Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad + This is where we take our stand. Web series by David Zeiger. http://thisiswherewetakeourstand.com
Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad + The Fourth World War. A Big Noise Film. www.bignoisefilms.com