I've always been a fan of Geocaching, the GPS game in which you find treasures in your environment hidden by other players. Not only is there a melding of virtual and real world applications, but the game is totally created by other players. Caches are hidden and pinpointed by other people in the area, and in the way they tell the story of the cache the hider can tell a story that in which you may become immersed. Obvious analogies in storytelling are pirates treasure, and hidden powers group caches into themes; I've seen caches based on the solar system, greek gods, dedications to community players and caches designed to clean a certain area (Cache in, Trash out).
In all of these examples there is a sense that this is something hidden for you, the player, and should be a secret seldom told. People who don't play the game but who may see you hiding or finding caches are called Muggles. The implication becomes: you are playing in a world of secrets.
I've wanted to create something in this vein for a while, and I've got several ideas.
From my background in Alternate Reality Gaming I've learned how to take a virtual world and tell a story that directly involves the players through emails and instant messages. In the past I've created a Zombie ARG played by at least 50 Corps members in Iowa, I've been involved heavily in PerplexCity (one of the most successfully marketed ARGs) and I continue to tell stories. But I'm looking for something a little closer to home.
The transformative property doesn't have to depend on fiction or even secrets. Our landscape can be transformed in an instant by a new billboard, a new restaurant, a swath of graffiti... These marks don't hide behind "puppets" as they are called in ARG universes; anyone can interact with them. This transformation in the graffiti realm is seen by some to transform a dull landscape into a picture, and not just one for putting your own name, but a reflection of environment. I summon UK artist Banksy in these times. In his book Wall and Piece Banksy writes, "The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available surface but you're never allowed to answer back. Well, they started the fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back." He expounds later, "Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head." Banksy is a little harsh, but he stops too soon.
The message is not only scrawled across the walls of our cities, it is our cities. The walls Banksy livens up stand around a structure built on a land that is concrete in your world. In many of our worlds these structures offend us when there could be something beautiful underneath. If we put all the Mcdonalds of the world on the same lot how many forests or parks could we push into our downtown areas? We have leveled and paved our world, we live in a land of concrete, and in this fact we find our voice.
This flat world is perfect for parking. Our surfaces are laid into blocks like those of a chess board, equally divided standardized areas across the United States, and they belong to us. We shop in the stores that border our playing field and keep them in business - they are ours by right. With the right tools, these areas can transform into something more than a place to keep our cars while we shop. They can be our game board.
Tools: Chalk, Dodgeball, Hackey Sacks, traffic cones
These are not destructive. These do not leave a permanent mark. With these tools and enough people a dark parking lot can turn into something much more. It is our common ground, our market place; I say this with the Ancient Greeks in mind. And the day after we have left our mark till the next rain, crosses on the ground, symbols that mean nothing to those who don't care and everything to those that do. We have transformed our parking lots into a happier place, and will be happier for it.
When I explained this idea in the past it was met with the question, "Sounds fun, but to what end?" With no absolute goal in mind I ask to what end should we have fun and how do we take a place and change it? What is your parking lot game?
and finally...
15 years ago
2 comments:
nice call, colin. i like your writing style. will def. be checking reading from now on!
Are you fFamiliar with aerosol chalk? Usually meant fFor industrial purposes. It's Chalk which sprays in place, very much like spray paint, and has an additive which keeps it place longer than ordinary chalk alone. And of course, you can spray any surface. Like buildings, or grass, or cars, or yourself, or .. probably not the dog. Maybe you turn Main Street into a soccer fField. Or write a poem on your yard. Or paint your car blue fFor a couple days.
=)
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