average visitor

As part of the exhibition Cao Fei. The Future is Not a Dream at MALBA (Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires), Lux created the site specific performance Average Visitor to experiment with and amplify the paradox between contemplation and automation. Unlike protagonists, NPCs from video games are not controlled by a user but by the game’s programming. Their role is often to accompany the narrative or simply populate the environment as background extras. The concept gained popularity as a meme in 2016 and resurged in 2022 with NPC Streams on TikTok—live broadcasts where streamers earned money by repeating catchphrases and performing movements similar to the idle animations of digital characters. In real (physical) life, the term has become widely recognized among younger generations, often carrying a pejorative connotation to describe people perceived as irrelevant or lacking agency. But there are also those who reinterpret it: being an NPC can be a refuge from uncertainty, a safe space where everything is scripted and nothing can go wrong.

Her body blends into the logic of the exhibition space, replicating standardized gestures,
poses, and movements of visitors. In doing so, she reveals the invisible choreography that
governs the museum experience. Through this process, the performance intervenes in the
audience’s aesthetic perception.

press release

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