A little art project

This is a little art project built around creating games to play with movement. Games of running, writing, theater, improv, clowning, dancing, meditation, games mixing all these games, and game creation games. I invite whoever I can to some spot in a park, usually Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and I talk a little about games, then we think about them, then we run around and play some, then think about what was played, then create new ones, then play a few more, then think about what was created and played, and then create and play more. And then other things happen. At the end we have orange slices.

Where, When, Contact

Dates and locations have varied, but for now I've settled on Saturdays at 1 in the Rose Garden of Prospect Park (next on September 27th.) It's those three concrete circles that were once fountains, in the woods near the top of the park, near Flatbush Ave, above the Veil of Cashmere. I'll keep it going every Saturday at 1 in this spot until it gets too cold. Check here if it's raining, as we'll either rain run or play in the library.

If you have trouble finding us, want to RSVP, or have any questions, feel free to email me at cgziemba@gmail.com.

It's free, but I wouldn't mind a donation, or we tend to go to Fiona's Bar after, where you could buy me a beer. I usually put it on nonsensenyc.com (which has the most amazing listing of strange and wonderful events in NYC, I can't recommend it enough) and have been testing out platforms to promote it: instagram, Luma, WithFriends, Eventbrite. But marketing is very very much not my skill set, so please feel free to bring friends. 

Also, it's been both kid and dog friendly, and to folk who aren't athletically inclined, and even to folk who haven't experimented with poetics and play in a while.  It adapts based on who shows up. Finally, bring water, and shoes you can scamper around in. Optional to bring is a notebook if you're partial to yours, chalk, and a balloon (balloons are just fun.)

What's in the Pages Below

I've written a lot trying to explain this little project, and it's broken up into hopefully manageable chunks in the pages below. Some of these pages explore the philosophy of play and the theory behind this project. Other pages explore the various methods I've been building out for creating games, and the different genres that I've been analyzing and appropriating from. 

You're absolutely invited, without having read any of this, to just show up some Saturday at 1 to play. Otherwise, read as little or as much as you like. I think some of it is very good actually, with one caveat: writing is a recursive process. It's a game where you take a step and then fix that step, and then take another step and then fix the first two, then another step and you're fixing three, and on like that. By the time you're taken ten steps you've fixed fifty five. It's rather exhausting, and I know that my repairs haven't kept up with my progress. I had a vision, but one that is evolving, so it's hard to keep up with the work of clearly articulating it.

Finally, below all the links, you'll see a bit of my plan for the next session. Again, just come and play. Also, rarely do my plans ever actually get followed. This is built around indeterminacy and adaptation. (I'm also building out a page of plans and reflections from earlier sessions, but am very very behind in this.)

WARNO for Sept 27

Below is my plan for the next game session. I've never been able to actually follow any of the plans I've made, but they're still useful. For the next one September 27th, I don't have a lot of detail as of yet. I'll review prior plans and see what opportunities were missed and take another day and a half to see if any new ideas or impulses arise. Otherwise, when the play starts, I'll remind myself to slow down, to soften and take moments to reflect and maybe even play a few meditations, while also moving so so so fast to recognize when something interesting happens (one of the concrete circles in the rose garden has a strange echo in its exact middle, and I'm so grateful for the moment when I heard it) and catch it, grab it, expand it, and build it out. More importantly, I'll be working to get players moving fast enough to recognize such interesting moments and moving slow enough to enjoy them. 

Regardless, a rough outline for the day: 

• After much thought and experimentation, chalk free play is the best way to start. I haven't done any writing on the theory and method of this little game, nor worked through its structure regarding my pieces/methods framework. Perhaps I never will, because just coming to one of the little concrete ovals and scratching away with chalk and without intention is a hell of a lot of fun, and there isn't any need to understand why or how. Otherwise, I think it's the best use of our time while we are waiting for folk to arrive, and a nice first step into this little world I'm asking you to walk in. 

• Then I do some background, specifically the Agreements, and an explanation of the audience->participant->designer->creator principle.

• Set up nickname timebomb.

• , probably starting with plenty Silly Run and other Movement Games (these really are damn fun) 

• Then mix in and see what participants can make out of Exquisite Corpses and other Writing Exercises (plus really I still need better articulation of how they can work in concert with Silly Running.)

• and also see how much I can build out some understandings and approaches to Terrain.

• still trying to build out some Affect running as well as games using Ceremonies and Performative Utterances 

Materials: minimal. Chalk, journals, perhaps a few other toys, but a very minor smattering.