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AFK (Away From Keyboard)  2026
How do first-person shooter games like Counter-Strike construct
the embodiment of militarized hegemonic masculnity? 

First-person shooter games often celebrate militarised ideals of masculinity through the characters they ask players to embody. In ‘AFK (Away From Keyboard)’, Felix van Gent examines these ideals through an installation inspired by the game Counter-Strike and his own experiences of growing up around gaming culture.

Three looping animations use familiar game characters whose subtle gestures suggest vulnerability and queerness, thereby disrupting the hyper-masculine roles they usually perform. Robotic arms repeat the game’s ‘inspect skin’ animation and transform a gesture associated with weapons into one that also recalls admiring a freshly painted manicure.

The installation also reimagines the game’s cosmetic weapon skins through a camouflage pattern made from homoerotic imagery. This challenges the visual language of military uniformity, and questions the relationship between masculinity, desire and power.





Cum Laude
Nominated for the Melkweg Award