A 9-minute video shot inside the multiplayer first-person shooter video game Counter-Strike in which Eva begs other players to spare her, because she is “doing performance art”. As a result, she gets killed over and over again.
Eva’s only interaction with other players is through the chat, which can be read at the bottom of the screen. The actual performance never begins, so the central element of the work is the reactions of the gamers, forcibly distracted by pretending to be terrorists or anti-terrorists, and reluctantly involved in the Mattes’ video.

Installed at Plugin, Basel

Installed at Rua Red, Dublin

Installed at Carroll/Fletcher, London

Installed at Western Australian Museum

Installed at MAAT, Lisbon

Screenshots from video




Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.