TABOO - TRANSGRESSION - TRANSCENDENCE

This analysis explores Ork Haus (2022), an experimental simulation by Greek artist Theo Triantafyllidis, critiquing socio-technological tensions within Web3-enabled digital platforms. In this speculative space, a family of orcs grapples with survival in a chaotic, incomplete household, echoing pandemic-era isolation. Inspired by The Sims, the orcs face absurd challenges—crying on the toilet, meditating at night, and striking walls—emphasizing their alienation within a fractured, never-ending work-from-home reality.

The orc family's indefinite lockdown is symbolized by shifting shadows in the scenery, with their passive immersion in a technologically mediated "onlife" (Floridi, 2015) deepening their detachment from the physical world. Ongoing disturbances—such as a constant kitchen fire, a leaking sink, and accumulating trash—serve as metaphors for contagion, both literal and figurative, within the physical and the digital space. The “digital storm,” full of noise and disruptions, symbolizes the interplay between contagion and immunity in digital environments. Striking twice, the storm acts as a parasite (Serres, 1982), destabilizing the household and exposing the orc family's apathy —Serres’ concept of noise as both disruptor and catalyst highlights vulnerabilities in the digital space while offering potential for transformation.

Applying Science and Technology Studies' (STS) theoretical lenses to Ork Haus sheds light to the socio-political impact of digital platforms and their role in shaping human experience (van Dijck, 2013; Spagnoletti, Resca & Lee, 2015) and identity (Srnicek, 2017; Brown, 2019) within emotionally charged, work-from-home contagion forms. Ork Haus’ connotations connects to the broader discussion on digital platforms, which, though seen as neutral spaces for tasks and transactions, act as socio-political frameworks shaping individual and collective identities. They prompt us to reconsider isolation, control, and the ethical implications of technology in our lives, aligning with STS views on technology as an active force in shaping social processes and cultural dynamics (Grau & Hinterwaldner, 2021).