Life in a CRT, 2020.
Our friends behind the television screen live in a world we have never been able to visit. Life in a CRT explores this idea and lets the viewer imagine what life would be like as the iconic video game character Mario. The wooden Mario mirrors the viewer’s jumps on a force sensitive resistor to collect coins. When pressure is relieved from the resistor, an electromagnet hidden on the backdrop turns on and grabs the coin in front. The more intimate connection to Mario’s movements aims to bridge the fundamental disconnect between player and character and brings a sense of physicality to an old video game memory. Made with a motor, an arduino, and a birchwood body, it is meant to be reminiscent of an arcade machine with minimalist aesthetics.