Voight-Kampff Tests (2019)

Look for signs of inhumanity.

This project was inspired by the 1982 film Blade Runner. In the film, a psychological test called the Voight-Kampff test is used to distinguish replicants, or synthetic humans, from actual humans. By asking the subjects emotionally provocative questions, the test uses its subjects’ answers to determine their humanity. However, the film ultimately blurs the line between humans and replicants, juxtaposing humane replicants against inhumane humans. In the end, anything that the Voight-Kampff test picks up as inhumane is arbitrary. The test simply exists to serve humans’ oppression of replicants.

“Voight-Kampff Tests” is a set of two Voight-Kampff tests, conducted without any acting, edited together. In the beginning, it tells its viewers that one of the subjects is a replicant. The viewers are primed to look for signs of inhumanity in the subjects. However, it is unclear which one is the replicant as neither subject behaves perfectly human. Even though both are actually human, it’s difficult to pronounce either as normally human. This project ultimately aims to ask: What does it mean to be normal? What does it mean to be human?