Artist Florian Mehnert audience can shoot rat – SPIEGEL ONLINE

On the digital trigger the right index finger is sitting loosely happy times. The virtual burst kills enemies in series – one is accustomed. Even drones operate by remote control and liquidate people in the remotest parts of the world. These killings denounces the artist Florian Mehnert now in his latest work. In the art project “11 days” can really metzeln their terminals viewers. The victim is a rat.

The little animal has been put in a white box with straw of artists. In it, a gun is directed. As a user, you only see the course and the mouth – just like being in the virtual world of a person shooter. From this perspective, one can observe the rat from coming Saturday at, then a live stream out of the box will be enabled. For eleven days, the rat is hopping before the eyes of the world, and sneeze, then it suggests the last hour: On March 24, item 19 clock, all viewers can trigger a shot of real existing weapon with a click. The signals from the network are passed via USB cable to small motors that move the gun and pull the trigger. This explains the artist. Florian Mehnert expected on March 24, a self-described “massacre”.

Mehnert is 34 years old and has repeatedly analyzed in his works the relationship between people and technology. To his rats execution he explains, “A rat dies for the art I would also prefer it if this is not needed But people are jaded I have actually cross borders….” Mehnert wants to show that people can kill using the internet, will point to the danger of remote-controlled drones. The rat is in his experiment by what it has always been: an experimental animal.

If the rat really die?

The hope that behave the viewers of the live streams in eleven days peacefully and leave the rat alive, cherishes the Artist not, however. In a survey on its website, already about 1000 users have reported that want to see the dead rat. At present, the performance can not be achieved – the servers are collapsed under the weight of great rush

Two years ago Florian Mehnert had been due to a work of art in trouble with the Prosecutor’s Office: He had bugged some places in the forest and the recorded dialogues. passers subsequently published. The outrage surprised him today.

And this time? The little animal is, so it may be assumed, no rush in eleven days to help. Mehnert insists that he possess the weapon, which can be seen in the pictures out of the box, and is allowed to use. A remote control of the gun is in his estimation allowed.

For many months, the artist has planned his project in recent hours, therefore, have him death threats already achieved. “Because of the drone war or the total surveillance on the Internet, people do not rain on. If a single rat could be killed, the outrage exploded,” he says. After all, the rat would not necessarily die, yes. The user will decide.