Zombie video game sees players shoot undead art collectors and dealers, but is Hong Kong artist biting the hand that feeds?
- Hong Kong artist Mak2 takes a satirical swipe at her own industry with her shoot ’em up video game, presented at her new solo exhibition at De Sarthe Gallery
- She ultimately views the exhibition and its sarcastic undercurrents as an expression of her affection for the industry
The Hong Kong artist known as Mak2 unapologetically outsources the production of her most popular series. And she had a seven-metre-high (23-foot) installation made for this year’s Art Basel Hong Kong called Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy (2024).
Now the part-time stand-up comedian and artful prankster has gone one provocative step further: she has made a video game where the object is to shoot dead zombie collectors and dealers.
Presented at her new solo exhibition at De Sarthe Gallery, called “Art Survivors”, the central artwork is a first-person zombie shooting game set in an art fair.
In this fictional world, the walls are adorned with Mak2’s AI-generated artworks, and all non-player characters – fair attendees – are zombies.
The player’s goal is to survive in the fair for as long as possible, by killing any approaching zombies and replenishing ammunition when it runs out.
