Here are some events that i will be hoping to talk about or play Rootbeans. Come along if you would like to participate.
Art Schism – 29th November
Art Schism is an artists co-operative Gallery in the north lanes area of Brighton. They are in the middle of organising their Birthday party and we discussed the possibility of playing Rootbeans for that. That will be on Friday 29th November at the Blind Tiger. James Shreeve has been the link here. I might suggest doing a late night game which challenges users to maintain any level of perspective in party mode. Connections and social networking, ice-breaking and bonding would be important aspects to bring into this game.
Lego Panopticon – 1st December
Met Chris pinchen from Cataspanglish who is currently resident at Lighthouse. He introduced us to Techno Activism at the launch of #TA3MBTN. It was a great event of eye-opening ideas around data retention by governments, surveillance, Prism and educating the public about open data and data protection. Chris and co run Cryptoparty. An event which brings people together to learn more about how to protect their identity and their online shadows and data. We talked about the next Cryptoparty which is on Sunday 1st December. How do you make a tech event more family friendly? we talked about Rootbeans. A version of the game that could be fun, relevant to younger players but exploring the issues core to crypto party. After a bit of twitter ping pong we came up with Lego Panopticon. In this game players use lego bricks to build surveillance structures by connecting to each other and exchanging ‘bits’. Players with the tallest towers can see the furthest and can therefore ‘help’ the most when it comes to informing other players with valuable information further away from their own vantage point. Becoming the Google or Facebook of the game. We’ll have to meet up and hash this out but it’s exciting.
Digihub Art & Chat – 12th December
Digihub Art & chat nights are “Open-Mic” for artists using digital means to present and discuss – “show, tell & crit” – works in a relaxed, informal atmosphere.
Art & Chat is a 1st come 1st serve evening. Next one is on the 12th December in Brighton. I’ve submitted a talk about Rootbeans for the next event. Aharon from Digihub got back to me a few days later and we’re on! now i need to prepare a clear outline of the game, what I hope to develop from here and how I hope to collaborate with others on it.
Still to reach out to:
Build Brighton
Build Brighton is a communal workshop and collective of makers, designers, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, artists and hackers. Our main purpose is to provide tools and a space in which our members can gather, collaborate and learn from each other. We also run workshops on subjects ranging from soldering to sewing machines.
Interactive Technologies Research Group
The Interactive Technologies Research Group at the University of Brighton is a group of staff and students in the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics with interests in designing and developing useful and usable interactive technologies, from conventional desktop systems to computer games, mobile phones and interactive television.
photo: Maf’j Alvarez. Playing Choice, Chance & Circumstance as part of Newcastle Graft 2003