Why do people voluntarily seek out tension and fear? From watching horror movies on the couch to wandering through haunted houses or riding roller coasters at the fair: we love thrills and adrenaline, as long as it remains safe. This paradox is what fascinates artist Oscar Peters (1981). Humans are the only species that deliberately seeks out danger through films, games, and attractions. We want to feel the edge of our fear, without crossing it. With these ideas as a starting point, Peters conceived an artistic “haunted house.” His large-scale installation BARBARIAN at Monopole confronts visitors with their own fears and the desire to understand them.
With BARBARIAN, artist Oscar Peters transforms Monopole into an artistic haunted house where fear, spectacle, and imagination come together. In this large-scale immersive installation, you wander through a labyrinth filled with handmade sets, floating ghosts, falling skulls, and moving sculptures. Everything moves, rattles, squeaks, and creaks.
Peters draws inspiration from horror films, funfairs, comics, amusement parks, and fantasy worlds such as role-playing games and retro horror. With BARBARIAN, he explores why people continuously seek out controlled tension – that singular moment just before the drop.
The installation constantly balances between pleasure and threat, humor and discomfort, nostalgia and escapism. At the same time, Peters deliberately reveals how the illusion is constructed: you see the wooden structures, brushstrokes, and theatrical effects. In doing so, BARBARIAN also becomes an ode to handmade spectacle in a time when more and more experiences are becoming digital.
Step into a world where you are free to get lost, be frightened, escape and perhaps discover something about yourself along the way.