R.I.P. – Redemption

2024 Game essay Commissioned by HAU Hebbel am Ufer for HAU4
A glossy, dripping white arch rises above mossy rocks in a dark virtual pine forest under a stormy sky

Game still

At the beginning of the 19th century, the passenger pigeon was one of the most common bird species in the world, boasting roughly 3–5 billion specimens.

Alas, humankind managed to drive the species to extinction in just a few decades. R.I.P. – Redemption commemorates and celebrates the existence of the extinct bird.

The work is a short explorative computer game in which the user gets to talk to the extinct animal. In this online sanctuary, the bird lives on and philosophises about mortality, humankind and inter-species grief.

A rust-red passenger pigeon stands on a forest path beneath a dripping white arch, stormy sky behind
Game still
A giant bird skull lies on bare earth under a violet sky, dead trees behind, hundreds of candles burning inside its jaw
Game still
A marbled gravestone reading 'Grief is praise' beside a dark plant, a pigeon waiting on a lit forest path behind
Game still
A yellow-green pigeon peers out between dark leaves under a stormy sky
Game still

Companion works

Three performers in layered grey rags move between mounds of pale earth in front of projected cloudy skies, audience in the foreground
R.I.P. – Resurrect in Peace 2023–24
A performer in black with a cap stretches one arm out in front of a projected dark, glistening arch, a second performer seated in the background
R.I.P. – Ceremony 2025

Credits

  • Concept, design, text: Anan Fries
  • Technical artists: Ambrus Ivanyos, Gabor Papp
  • Composition, sound design: Imogen Davey
  • Sound design pigeon: Malu Peeters
  • A commission by HAU Hebbel am Ufer
  • Production: Hairygaze
  • Funded within the framework of the Alliance of International Production Houses by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media

Shown at

  • REFRESH, ZHdK Zürich, 2025
  • HAU4 (online), 2024