In september a new chapter of reality game Maskspel (Maskplay) will commence, organised by Interacting Arts. The game is so far open to participants from Stockholm, but could in the future possibly be expanded to other parts of the Nordic community.
What is the game about?
The participants get a chance to explore the myth about the masks. What happens when they step down into the flesh and wander our streets? Can they be encountered? Are they dangerous? There is a group of scientists claiming that those who approach the masks become cursed and develop strange ideas. Have you heard that time sometimes freezes at the Jakobsberg Station? And who is building labyrinths in the forest around old Runsa fortification?
What do you do?
In Maskspel you accomplish missions and playful events. You take part in closed gatherings and open street escapades. Everything is connected. Maskspel is a reality game. This means that reality itself and the public environment is our playground. Maskspel is played in groups of three or more people.
This autumn the project is financed by Arbetarnas bildningsförbund (Workers’ Educational Association).
Deltagarkultur, translated “Participatory Arts” or “Participatory Culture” is a new book in swedish written by Interacting Arts. The authors have all been heavily involved in the nordic live role-playing community. The book can be ordered here. If you know any publishing house that would be interested in a translation, please contact editor@interactingarts.org.
Here is an excerpt from the first chapter:
In spectator culture media, the role of the producer is to create suggestions. The role of the consumer is to recieve them. Communication moves in one direction only: when we look at a work of art, go to the theatre or see a film, we are supposed to remain spectators. If we paint on the paintings in the gallery, play the harmonica during a concert, or climb the stage shouting “Hamlet, No!”, we are in violation of the prevailent agreements of the particular medium. Such crimes against protocol are generally punished by lowered social standing, by branding the perpetrator a boisterous nitwit, and/or calling for a policeman. Unlawful dispossession is no more tolerated by spectator culture than by the authorities.
Every media structure constitutes a relation: who produces suggestions for whom? Being able to control the shape of suggestions means having a strong influence on the experience of the recipient. In other words, media relations are always relations of power. Media based on one-way communication have a visibly authoritarian structure. The recipient is, at best, able to avoid unwanted suggestions by severing the perceptive contact with the medium, but as long as she herself doesn’t assume the role of producer, all this means is that she has momentarily switched manipulators.
/…/
To be consecrated, elevated to the position of producer of suggestions is a dream of many consumers. Could this be because they would like to shape reality rather than be shaped by it? Produce the suggestions that create experiences of their own accord rather than be passive spectators?
(By Kristoffer Haggren, Elge Larsson, Leo Nordwall & Gabriel Widing)
Andie Nordgren
Claus Raasted
Eirik Fatland
Mike Pohjola
Gabriel Widing
Bjarke Pedersen
Peter Andreasen
Mathias Kromann Rode
Anna Westerling
Martin Ericsson
Axel Löfving
Katri Lassila
Troels Barkholt
You?
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