Check Engine

Check Engine is a fully immersive installation housed within a transformed car. Visitors are invited into a sentient, stranded being from another world, combining tactile exploration, light, sound, and narrative progression across three distinct interactive modes.

Made in collaboration with Carine Lohyer.

Concept and Artistic Approach

Check Engine reimagines a humble, Earth-bound vehicle as a biomechanical lifeform, marooned on our planet while attempting to return home. Equal parts escape room, chill zone, and interactive toy, the piece shifts fluidly between game and fiction.

Participants engage with the car through three modes:

  • Chill Mode: A lounge with soft pillows, ambient playlists, and soothing lights.

  • Toy Mode: A tactile playground where knobs, switches, and buttons alter the car's audio and lightscape in surprising, playful ways.

  • Story Mode: A layered, puzzle-driven sequence in which participants must “repair” the car through logic, cooperation, and curiosity.

The experience is highly sensory: fog seeps at key moments, light strips pulse with feedback, and hidden systems awaken in response to user action. Each solved puzzle nudges the being closer to departure, culminating in a symbolic gift when the sequence is completed.

At its heart, Check Engine is a meditation on repair: emotional, mechanical, and planetary. It speaks to our desire to fix what’s broken, to connect with the unfamiliar, and to collaborate across difference. Inspired by themes of constellations and inter-connectedness, the piece blurs the line between machine and spirit, asking: What if repair was an act of empathy?

    • Vehicle Base

      • Model: 2005 Toyota Echo (heavily modified)

      • Exterior Aesthetic: Faux-rust finish, exposed pipes, riveted panels, and custom biomechanical decoration

      Interior Modifications

      • Rear and passenger seats removed

      • Flat, carpeted lounging surface with layered pillows

      • Ambient and DMX lighting integrated into cabin

      • Pillow lounge supports multiple visitors at once

      Control Interfaces

      • Custom dashboard panel with:

        • Clicky switches

        • Toggle levers

        • Arcade buttons

        • LED indicators

      • “Steering wheel” replaced with a hatch-style dial

      • Interior lighting and feedback tied directly to user actions

      Lights, Audio, and FX

      • DMX-controlled lighting system (ambient + addressable LEDs)

      • Six-speaker directional audio system

      • Embedded fog machine for dramatic atmospheric effects

      • Custom radio station loop with progressive audio narrative

      Electronics & Software

      • Microcontrollers: Multiple Arduino boards

      • Computer: Laptop running core logic and DMX control

      • Interactivity logic: Custom software bridges Arduino input with audio/visual responses

      • Puzzle system: State-based logic triggers across multiple inputs

      • Sound design: Includes ambient drone loops, triggered samples, and voice-based hints

      Materials & Build Notes

      • Heavy use of salvaged and recycled materials

      • Aesthetic mix of industrial, sci-fi, and retro-futurist references

      • All construction designed for mobility and disassembly

  • Check Engine was exhibited at Sideburn 2024, Groove & Bass Festival 2024, and Sideburn 2025.

    It has also been presented to private gatherings and events. It has been displayed as a popup installation at the Aylmer marina.

    Check Engine received an art grant from Sideburn (2024) and, later, Groove & Bass festival (2024).

    • Fully modified 2005 Toyota Echo, inside and out

    • Three participant-selectable modes: Chill, Toy, and Story

    • Custom-built dashboard with LED matrix, switches, and interactive components

    • Tactile controls for lights, sound, fog, and hidden triggers

    • Puzzle progression system that leads to a narrative reward

    • Pillow-lined interior for lounging and introspection

    • DMX lighting, fog machine, and six-speaker immersive audio

    • Arduino + laptop-based control system for real-time interaction

    • Web server for remote control

  • Check Engine is a collaboration with Carine Lohyer, visual artist, who participated in the world building, visual transformation of the vehicle, and the complete creation and drawing of the mysterious and beautiful 100-pages manual.