killbox

"A kill box is a temporary autonomous zone of slaughter."
Grégoire Chamayou, from the book Drone Theory 

Killbox is an online game and interactive installation that critically explores the nature of drone warfare, its complexities and consequences. It is an experience which explores the use of technology to transform and extend political and military power, and the abstraction of killing through virtualisation.

The war on terror shifts the battleground away from territory defined by geopolitical boundaries. The conflict zone now follows the individual, irrespective of geography. Unmanned drones fly at high altitude above sovereign states, monitoring and engaging these individual targets. Aerial combat is coordinated in volumetric space using cubes containing specific rules of engagement. These cubes- or "killboxes" make up a dynamic and responsive three dimensional map of the area. When activated, killboxes become legal zones of operation for any unit assigned to it. 

Killbox is a fictionalized interactive experience in virtual environments based on documented drones strikes in Northern Pakistan.

The work is an international collaboration between U.S. based artist/activist, Joseph DeLappe and Scotland-based artists and game developers, Malath Abbas, Tom Demajo and Albert Elwin of Biome Collective.