This was the reaction of a visitor at the game art exhibition Tune, held from August 4 to 11 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. The realization came only after they reflexively pulled the trigger the moment a target appeared; what they had shot was an elephant resting within its family herd.
Developed over the course of a year by artists Yeyoon Avis Ann and Minjung Park of the Kaliens Kollective, Tune is a web-based journalism game that reveals the impacts of war on animals. Visitors step into the role of a player, navigating the dim map of the Angolan Civil War’s aftermath and searching for traces of animals lost in the conflict.
According to Kaliens Kollective, Tune is set to launch worldwide on Steam later in September. During the week-long exhibition, visitors were repeatedly confronted with a stark choice: “Will you pull the trigger, or will you listen to the voice?”
Visitor reactions were deeply divided. At the chapter where players were left alone with the targeting cursor, some hesitated for a long time, refusing to shoot the elephant. Others pulled the trigger reflexively, only to be struck by guilt afterward. In some group visits, one person would step in for another and say, “You shouldn’t kill the elephant.”
Starting with the war-related PTSD of elephants, the collective sheds light on a rarely discussed subject—the suffering of animals in war. Their research revealed shocking findings: elephants who lost their families during the Angolan Civil War exhibited symptoms of trauma similar to humans, including heightened anxiety, extreme aggression, attempts at interspecies mating without consent, abandonment of calves, and deteriorated social skills. Even more disturbing, these symptoms have been observed to pass down through generations.
But how do you convey such a heavy subject? For Minjung Park, the choice of video games as a medium was deliberate. “There’s a big difference between something you discover on your own and something you’re simply told,” she explained. “Games create lasting memories through active engagement, which can continue to affect people even after they return to their daily lives.”
Looking ahead, the artists are planning follow-up chapters that explore themes like the impact of the Korean War along the DMZ, or marine life harmed in the Gulf War. Just as Kaliens Kollective hopes “to share stories for people to notice what was once invisible,” Tune offers a powerful new lens on the silent, unseen casualties of war.
Media Contact
Company Name: Kaliens Kollective
Contact Person: Jung Chan Young
Email: Send Email
Country: South Korea
Website: https://kalienskollective.com/projects
