AGE OF EMPIRES

This kinetic installation creates a closed circuit of consumption, linking a physical combustion engine to a digital simulation of labor. A custom-built PC, powered directly by a noisy, gasoline-fueled 2-stroke generator, runs a heavily modified version of the 1999 strategy game Age of Empires.

The game code has been altered to strip away all mechanics of warfare, trade, and empire-building. What remains is a single villager, stranded in a map entirely covered by a dense forest. His sole programmed purpose is to cut down trees—a Sisyphean task that continues only as long as the generator is fed with petrol.

The work establishes a destructive parallel: real-world fossil fuel is burned to power the virtual destruction of nature. The fumes and noise of the engine enable the silent, pixelated deforestation on screen, transforming the complex strategy of the original game into a singular, meditative, yet toxic act of resource depletion.