The Afterlife Euthanasia Device

The Afterlife Battery project, organized by designers Auger Loizeau in 2009, asked 15 selected participants what they would do with an afterlife battery, charged by either themselves or a loved one.

One of our favorite interpretations was by design duo Dunne & Raby, who presented the Afterlife Euthanasia Device:

The Afterlife Euthanasia Device

Because they are a couple, the artists explain, they conceived a sort of assisted suicide robotics.  The idea is to use the energy from one death to instigate another.  The device would be prepared next to a bed or armchair and the afterlife battery inserted — when the surviving partner is ready, he or she would hook an air mask to the machine.  30 seconds after the green light went on, the carbon dioxide would begin to flow…

I find Dunne & Raby’s conceptual invention compelling and poignant.  What do you think?

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby are a London-based design team, intent on stimulating dialogue about the cultural, social, and ethical implications of technology.  Their work in design, exhibited internationally, can be found in the permanent collections of MoMA and the Victoria & Albert Museum, among others.