IMPROVISED EMPATHETIC DEVICE (I.E.D.)

S.W.A.M.P.

A custom software application continuously monitors a website (icasualties.org) that updates the personal details and numbers of slain US soldiers. When new deaths are updated on the website, the data is extracted and sent wirelessly to custom hardware installed on the I.E.D. armband. The LCD readout displays the soldiers’ name, rank, cause of death and location and then triggers an electric solenoid to drive a needle into the wearer’s arm, drawing blood and immediate attention to the reality that a soldier has just died in the Iraq war.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

S.W.A.M.P. (Studies of Work Atmospheres and Mass Production) is the collaborative effort of artists Douglas Easterly and Matt Kenyon. Their work focuses on critical themes addressing the effects of global corporate operations, mass media and communication, military-industrial complexes and general meditations on life.