Introduction video:
https://youtu.be/er7D0DdIHKk

The Kidnapping Kit is a small box with a collection of stamps and glass ampules of a fictional kidnapper. The glass ampules are souvenirs of probably former happenings, crime scenes or victims (hair, bones, blood aka tomato sauce, wood piece, earth). The stamps are used to write ransom notes, but also work as the interface to his digital diary of thoughts. These thoughts only emerge for a few seconds and then disappear again. They don´t have a certain order, but some are connected. I wanted to have them like a short poem and some are inspired by real historical ransom notes, but most of them are invented.
They show that the kidnapper wants to show strength and wants to be tough, but on the other hand is also totally vulnerable and, in a way, would like to be caught. So the kidnapping kit is a diary for himself, but if the user like an investigator finds the box, interacts with it and reads into it, he or she notices that it is also a scream for help.

The work was created as part of the Interface Cultures course at the University of Art and Design Linz, Austria, 2020.