
Portable Incinerator
2023
Medium
Custom, interactive software
Humans tamed fire long ago and have used it to different ends since. In modern homes, besides using an open fire for cooking, installing an electric or even digital fireplace is meant to produce a cozy, relaxing atmosphere. The current work imitates and virtualizes the more destructive mode of fire use, such as with portable garden incinerators. In inviting the users to burn down objects such as digital images or custom keepsake models, the work challenges our utilitarian approaches to controlling and tooling fire in favor of a more chaotic vision. At the same time, it serves as a mockery of our materialistic society – if objects are mass-produced, could we contemplate the possibility of more customized and ceremonious ways to reclaim or destroy them at the end of their life cycles? An on-demand virtual incinerator could be one of many solutions.
Interactive demo
Press on the square block to start playing with the fire and see it crack and burn down: