Robots Act Out Guantanamo Waterboarding Torture, Terrorists Win

There’s a new exhibit at Coney Island that’s fun for the whole family: the “Waterboard Thrill Ride.” Greeted by Spongebob exuding “It don’t Gitmo better!” you walk in to peer through bars at a dude in dark sweats leaning over another guy in an orange suit, his face wrapped in a towel. Slip a dollar into the machine, and for 15 seconds, “Dark Hood” pours water into Orange Jumpsuit’s nose and mouth while he convulses.

I think there might be some sort of political and cultural commentary going on–something about the US and torture and calling it a thrill ride and people paying to see it at a carnival. Anyways! The artist who created the animatronic exhibit, Steve Powers, actually wanted to do a waterboarding exhibit with real people–he’d be waterboarded first, then perform it on a volunteer, who would do it to the next guy and so on. But pseudo-drowning robots is obviously safer, and maybe a touch less controversial–after all, do androids dream of electric freedom? [NYT via BoingBoing]