The Hammer on the Anvil
Gusztav Hamos, Budapest 1992
Interactive Installation: A hammer and a blank TV screen set a top an anvil. The TV screen is connected to a computer while the hammer contains sensors that allows to give commands to activate the program when moved.
The Program:
1. A man, screaming ever louder and louder, and gesticulating that he must be released from the TV appears on the screen. The man, after a short, goes on one's nerves so much that one reaches for the hammer. Upon doing so the next part of the program begins:
2. The man on the screen is now silent. After a short pause to catch his breath, he begs the viewer holding the hammer to replace it upon the anvil. Once the viewer has done this, the first part of the program is activated once again: the man becomes enraged and wants to get out (...). When the viewer jerks the hammer away completely, the third part is activated:
3. The man on the screen becomes all excited that he doesn't know where the hammer has gone, and demands that the hammer must be returned to the anvil.