KNOCK DOWN TRUCK

Lights, sounds, a pop-up carnival game in the back of a rented box truck — this is the Lost Horizon Night Market’s Knock Down Truck.  It’s an interactive installation where participants record video declarations of their worst fears, then overcome them by literally knocking those fears down. The video is projected onto stacks of boxes so that the participants can physically knock down their fears by throwing beanbags at the video. Destruction is cathartic. This work grants participants the opportunity to smash a physical manifestation of their fears in a safe space, and destroy something without negative repercussions.

Outside, those waiting in line produce talismans against their fears, and discuss what horrors these wards combat with the Knock Down Truck’s organizers. The organizers are listening closely, screening talisman-makers for potential participants. Their criteria: individuals with a real need to unleash physically upon their fears.

The video is produced with Snapchat. That means it’s only temporarily recorded and provides the participant with a digital mask. This shift in representation allows the participant to smash their fears, not themselves, as the layer of obfuscation keeps this from being a self-destructive act. When their time in the truck comes to an end, the video disappears, providing participants with a release and, ultimately, begin to move on from their fears.