Here, as in many of his other works, Bester exploits visual and conceptual ambiguities to communicate the pessimistic conviction that we are less free than we would like to believe. Set in a galvanized petrol can with the words “Bly uit! Oortreders sal geskiet word” (Stay out, trespassers will be shot) stenciled onto its surface, Oortreders seems to suggest that the state tends to protect its own agents over the interests of its citizens. Bester reinforces this message through the inclusion of a stage-like room filled with computers and several of the small action figures produced by toy companies to fuel the fantasy games of children: like these toys, we are turned into puppets performing on a stage over which we have very little control. Viewed from another perspective, Bester’s use of fantasy figures reminds us that we are repeatedly lulled into denying the challenges to our rights posed by the activities of social engineers.