Waluigi’S Purgatory

Waluigi’s Purgatory (2024) is an interactive, simulation-based performance by the artist duo dmstfctn with a specially composed soundtrack by musician Evita Manji. At its core is an AI that finds itself in a purgatory specifically created for AIs that cheated during training. Haunted by memories of its past and doubts about its future, it roams this place, gets to know its inhabitants, and encounters eerie stories. The audience controls the AI’s path by moving individual light points in the 3D simulation via smartphone, thus making decisions. Characters are animated through facial motion capture and voice distortion, while the atmospheric musical layer, oscillating between floating loops and intense outbursts, reacts to the storyline and interaction. The title refers to the theory of the “Waluigi Effect,” which attributes to AIs a tendency to imitate adversarial roles as found in internet texts. Inspired by Carl Jung’s concept of the “Shadow,” it suggests the possibility that while an AI may appear as a helpful interface, it can simultaneously reveal a chaotic alter ego. Waluigi’s Purgatory is the second part of dmstfctn’s GOD MODE trilogy on AI anomalies and has been presented internationally since 2024, supported by Serpentine’s Arts Technologies.