Big Red Buttons

Big Red Buttons started from the indie game The Stanley Parable, in which the player is made to push buttons that mean nothing. The project satirizes how uncritical we have become. We are used to dealing with issues instantly and superficially: we express sympathy for endangered polar bears, or for the victims of terrorism, by clicking a Like button.

The piece shows that using a high-tech smartphone in real life is not so different from pressing a cluster of big red push buttons. The mock-ups are a phone and a tablet covered entirely in buttons. With an Arduino kit inside, the illusory smartphone posts meaningless messages to social networks whenever it is pushed.

Buttons, smartphone and tablet mock-ups, 0.03m x 0.15m x 0.08m and 0.03m x 0.24m x 0.17m

In Use

How It Works

A board of push buttons is wired to an Arduino. Each press sends a status update to a social network account, so every push becomes a public post that says nothing.