Gameplay - Site-specific installation 1998

Gameplay was a site-specific installation done in collaboration with Anthony Hunt at Grey Area Art Space Inc, Melbourne Australia in 1998.
The installation consisted of a PlayStation console, TV, surround sound system, table and armchair placed on top of an L-shaped mezzanine platform.
Whoever was sitting the gallery would play games on top of the platform with the sound turned up high.
Entering the gallery space, visitors would be greeted by a blank suspended wall with sound and light emanating from behind it. Curiosity would lead them to duck under the platform to see what was happening on the other side.
This work was made in response to the scale and architecture of this small gallery and the trepidation people might feel entering it, especially if someone is sitting at the entrance, guarding the space. By placing the gallery sitter on an obscured platform people are tricked into entering an unattended space only to discover it's in fact occupied once they reach the other side, creating an awkward interaction between public and private as well as incorporating the viewer into the performative aspect of the artwork.
There is something unnerving about watching a stranger play video games IRL, a medium meant to be interacted with, yet in this case, it's out of reach and the person playing it is disassociating from social interaction.