Amanda Reimann
MUTT is a participatory art installation and multi-platform project exploring identity, race, and belonging through performance, surveillance, and satire. Combining live video projection, generative code, installation, circus-inspired visuals, and a public awareness campaign, it aims to spark conversation and challenge how we think.
At the core of this project is the belief that race is a man-made construct designed to divide people and uphold the idea that some are superior to others. It places whiteness at the top of a social hierarchy, and everyone else somewhere beneath it. Labels like “mixed race” imply a “pure” race. A purebred. Reducing the rest of us to something less: a mutt.
This isn’t about dogs.
Across Dublin, strange things are happening. There’s talk of dogs. Of performance. Of something brewing. If you listen closely, you’ll hear it: the circus has begun.
See it come to life. See it on Instagram
The MUTT Show
The MUTT Show is a participatory art installation travelling across Ireland (and beyond). The concept is simple: there’s a screen. You, the viewer, stand on the red star. Your silhouette is captured and converted into live ASCII code that's projected right in front of you.
You wave, you dance, you play with the code, and without realising, you become the show. The audience watches you watching yourself. You are both viewer and viewed, performer and performance. You are the dog: the mutt in the ring. This act reflects something deeper: how we perform identity, especially under the pressure of being watched, even when we don’t realise it.
Follow along on Instagram to see the mini version
The Code
Made in p5.js, this script turns a video feed into live ASCII visuals. It reads brightness values from the webcam input and maps them to typographic characters, constantly redrawing the image in real time: turning the viewer into a performer within the system.
Wanna play? Try here [1 →] [2 →] [3 →]
This isn’t about dogs. It’s about survival, identity, and who gets to belong. MUTT is not just a project; it is a protest shaped as a performance.
It started with a question. Or rather, a frustration. The ever-predictable “Where are you really from?” A classic go-to for anyone who doesn’t quite look the part, apparently. But have you ever thought about what you’re actually asking? Or what you’re really implying? Because let’s be clear – the question isn’t “Where are you from?” It’s “Why are you brown?” That’s the real question, isn’t it? Not curiosity, but categorisation. A quick scan of your face, your name, your accent – and suddenly there’s a mismatch. You don’t fit into the tidy little box they had ready for you.
Race is a man-made construct designed to divide people and uphold the idea that some are superior to others. It became a tool of white supremacy, using physical appearance to justify power, control, and violence. At its core, it places whiteness at the top of a social hierarchy, and everyone else somewhere beneath it.
But what happens to the ones who don’t fit neatly into these categories? You know – White. Black. Asian. Tick a box. Pick a side. These labels are treated like fixed identities, but they’re absurdly broad, flattening entire continents, cultures, and histories into one convenient word. And then there are the "others". We’re often labelled “mixed race,” like that explains anything. But here’s the problem: if “mixed” exists, then so must its opposite. There has to be something considered a pure race. A purebred. And by that logic, the rest of us are reduced to something less – a mutt.
MUTT is a multi-platform project that combines live video projection, creative coding, immersive installation, circus-inspired visuals, and a social campaign. One of the most valuable parts of the process was working across so many different formats. It pushed me to consider how people engage with art and ideas in varied ways, which made the project feel more immersive and accessible. More than anything, this project became a way to examine my own relationship with identity. I came to understand that identity isn’t fixed — it’s something we perform, especially when we know we’re being watched. By inviting participation, the work encouraged viewers to confront their role in that performance, as both the ones looking and the ones being looked at. I used absurd humour and circus aesthetics to approach difficult themes in a more playful and disarming way. MUTT reflects the layered, messy nature of identity through a blend of installation, digital interaction, and social commentary, inviting people to engage with it on multiple levels.
Either you get it, or you don’t. And if you don’t, just watch yourself turn into code and smile at the camera. Try it — it’s fun!
Hallå! I’m Amanda, a multidisciplinary designer from Sweden, now based in Dublin.
I have experience working as a graphic designer in Malta and began my BA at HDK-Valand in Gothenburg, Sweden, before transferring to IADT to complete my degree. I specialise in identity and conceptual narrative-driven design. I turn unconventional ideas into bold, unapologetic concepts. I focus on storytelling and bringing creative visions to life. I work across print, digital, illustration, motion, and web: whatever the project needs, I make it happen. Versatile and determined to create work that stands out. Why do what everyone else is already doing?
