Three photos of me performing A Conversation with My Father at Hatch: Scratch a week ago last Sunday. It was dark because I needed the projection to show up, and only had a desk lamp to light me. Lots more to see over on the Flickr Set. Credits to David Wilson Clark.
Last Wednesday I went to the Broadway in Nottingham to take part in Hide&Seek’s Sandpit Tour. The tour was part of a bigger, week long video games festival, a lot of which I wish I’d had the time and train fares to attend. It was a real celebration of the digital form, past and present, and was a real boon (yeah I’ve not heard that word for a while either) for the city. The event was free, and you could book ahead, or just show up, and was made up of pervasive and playful games. I did my big academic analysis on the pervasive side of it last week, so here’s a more straightforward record of the actual experience.
Thursday
50+ participants
Thursday was a pretty simple game, and was thrust upon us as soon as we arrived. It (rather cleverly) encouraged people to chat to each other straight away, and also readied you a little for letting go of your inhibitions, as half the time you were asking people just at the Broadway to see a film, and with no clue about what you were talking about. You were given a card with a day on, there were many of all the days, apart from Thursday, the aim being to become Thursday by 10pm. You shifted days by asking “Are you Thursday?” If they were a day that was adjacent to yours (if you were Sunday, that would be Monday and Saturday) then you exchanged cards (advantageously or not). I got to Friday. Frustratingly close!
Dadaist pursuit.
6 players
This was a simple ‘pick up and play’ game, used to fill in the time between games, and offered in a booklet for people to take away with them. Subverting Trivial Pursuit cards, a player would read out a question card, and the task of the other players is to reply with the funniest answer on the reverse of their cards. Whoever the questioner deems the funniest then receives a prize in the question card. Often a lot to do with delivery, I reckon with a few more drinks, an awesome little pick up and play. If I was going to be facetious and analyse it, I could say something about subverting the value in trading on information and education. It was also a lot more fun than trivial pursuit. Less stressful anyway (this may or may not have something to do with the way I approach it).
Vampires