Somebody thought it was a good idea to mix national politics with Dungeons & Dragons. It’s OK though; it’s all done under the guise of art.
Last week, an exhibition called ‘Fiend in the Void’ (with a subtitle of ‘Based on the Romney Campaign’) opened at the Allegra LaViola Gallery in New York City. At the opening, the artist – Casey Jex Smith – determined which presidential candidate would get his vote. Did he do so through a reasoned analysis of positions and issues? Of course not! Smith statted up Obama and Romney as Dungeons & Dragons characters and had audience members control them in a fight. The (human analog of the) winner will receive Smith’s vote. (Apparently, the artist is a resident of Ohio, a swing state.) Please check out this Wired article, if only for the photo, and check out this earlier article for the comments.
Some may consider this as more of callous publicity stunt than a valid means of selecting who should be leader of the free (real) world. Yeah, but is it art? More importantly, why didn’t Zak think of this?