Violence stands as an antithesis of our understanding of democracy. Not only does it deprive people of their voice to participate in decisions about their lives, but it also threatens their very existence. Yet violence and its use by state institutions or private individuals are inherent in our society as a means of enforcing political ideologies.
This raises the question: Can one support or condemn violence within a YES or NO poll? The political-violence voting booth poses this question to visitors by asking ten questions about historical acts of violence. After casting their vote, the general attitude of the other visitors is displayed in a chart, allowing them to see how other visitors voted in this nuance-free poll.
political-violence voting booth / Simon Staffa - Photo: Juliane Spejra
political-violence voting booth
Simon Staffa (AT)
political-violence voting booth / Simon Staffa - Photo: Juliane Spejra
Credits
This project was created as part of the exhibition Betrifft mich nicht. This exhibition with the topical topic of democracy (Vienna is the European Capital of Democracy 2025) was shown at the designforum Wien, and many thanks go to all those who made this happen. Further thanks go to all those of who supported me in successfully developing this project during my studies at die Graphische, a vocational higher education school dedicated to visual communication and media technology. Special thanks to Robert Schwieger, who helped with the “voting program,” as well as project leaders and teachers Harald Begusch and Elsa Kubik, and the in-house carpenters. I would also like to thank Juliane Spejra for providing me with pictures of my project during the opening evening of the exhibition Betrifft mich nicht.
Please note: The program for the Ars Electronica Festival 2025 is still in progress.
We are currently preparing all the information for the website and plan to put the full program online in the coming days – stay tuned!