HUMAN: RISE

choreography // 3d animation // design

HUMAN: RISE is a speculative sequel to online multiplayer video game Human Fall Flat, designed as an absurdist counter to the labor-intensive puzzles that torment the original game’s flaccid avatar named Bob. In the proposed sequel, players type pseudo-inspiring quips into the game’s UI. Each letter is tied to movements compiled from video game stock motion and gestures from modern protest movements. These form phrases that animate Bob into an accumulating choreography.

This dance, and the rigidly geometric formations in which Bobs perform, draw parallels between Danse Macabre (allegorical, cyclical dances unto death) and cycles of overwork. Simultaneously, stock motion as dance offers a choreographic reframing of the original game’s motion. As a dance rather than repetitive actions towards an unrewarding goal, HUMAN:RISE suggests that motion and bodily autonomy can be a potent form of protest in and of itself; a subversive means of rising above the exploitative nature of addictive gameplay and modern digital labor environments.