5 4 3 2 1

Interactive light installation (2020)
Seven segments display, LED, acrylic, microcontroller, foot switch and custom electronic componants.
14” x 10” x 2 ½”

The symbolic Doomsday Clock, created by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947, is a countdown that indicates how close our planet is to a man-made catastrophe. Originally, it represented the threat posed by a nuclear war. But since 2007, climate change and dangerous technologies (nanotechnology, biotechnology) are also considered. 

My project 54321 is a critique of the original Doomsday Clock. Through this project, I am trying to raise questions about the function of the Doomsday Clock. Is it supposed to raise awareness, inspire change, and thus save the planet? In my opinion, the primary function of the Doomsday Clock is to simply scare people. 

54321 is an installation consisting of a seven-segment red display, which shows a frantic 9 to 1 count, on a loop, never reaching 0. This count is fast and stressful, as if a bomb is about to explode. I use this tension to create discomfort or even fear in the minds of the spectators. A footswitch is placed just below the installation. An illuminated text reads: "Would you dare to trigger the end of the world?" If a spectator presses the footswitch, the count goes to 0 and for a moment, everything stops like it is the end of the world at last! Eventually, the count resumes.

It is obvious that the end of the world will be caused by the negative impacts of human activities. World rulers only have to, metaphorically, "press a footswitch" to start a war or to drop a bomb. With my project 54321, I offer the viewer the power to press the footswitch, and thus bring about the end of the world.

Created with the support