Monopolitics

Statement

Rising fears about safety and security shape public perception and behavior, often singling out certain groups and altering the sense of belonging for innocent individuals. Monopolitics explores life as a dual citizen in the U.S., where identity often precedes paperwork. Inspired by Monopoly, the book uses whimsical yet unsettling design to examine the “player’s” role within social systems, turning personal experience into playful, reflective engagement. It slowly reveals how policies and collective fears distribute power, privilege, and vulnerability. By recontextualizing a game associated with chance and strategy, the work interrogates how societal structures dictate outcomes, often in ways that feel arbitrary or predetermined.

Presented as a hybrid between a game and a book, the piece invites viewers to engage both physically and intellectually, reading the rules, moving through pages, and considering their implications. This dual format allows the work to act as a mirror for society: it makes visible the invisible forces that shape identity, community, and inclusion. By framing anxieties as playable narratives, the work encourages reflection on how fear, bureaucracy, and social constructs influence our interactions, perceptions, and understanding of justice within shared spaces.