On June 16 a group of playful festival organizers, thinkers, researchers and designers got together on google hangout to discuss and explore a ‘new new games’ movement.
The following tweet by transdisciplinary artist Philipp Ehmann (Play:Vienna) kicked off a twitter discussion and resulted in an interesting hangout conversation.
about participation, immersion & playfulness in theatre and live art & 'new games' http://t.co/zaoXhVK1tT. & @agencyofconey's small town
— Philipp Ehmann (@phideljo) June 11, 2013
Philipp referred in his tweet to a post by Robert Reid (Pop Up Playground) titled: The Theatre of Rehearsing for Life – Robert Reid, Coney (UK) and New Games in which Robert discusses Coney‘s A Small Town Anywhere – a ‘theatrical event with a Playing Audience’ and placing it in a broader trend of ‘New Games’.
According to Reid: “New Games blur the lines between technology, social interaction, location and story. What they have in common is the placement of the participant at the centre of the experience”.
Bernie DeKoven, fun theorist and author of The Well-
@phideljo @agencyofconey interested in your use of the term "New Games" in re. the New Games movement of the 70s
— Bernie DeKoven (@BernieDeKoven) June 11, 2013
Which led to a response by Robert Reid, the writer of the particular article:
@phideljo @berniedekoven @agencyofconey @MrCh4d I used New Games deliberately to draw the connection between the New Games movement …
— rob reid (@burstsgnlsymfny) June 12, 2013
From there on it was clear twitter was a good fire starter but the discussion had to be taken elsewhere to take it further.
@burstsgnlsymfny @phideljo @agencyofconey @MrCh4d could we meet, say in a Hangout on Google Plus, to chat re #newnewgames?
— Bernie DeKoven (@BernieDeKoven) June 12, 2013
Plans were made, times were set (3 different continents!), google hangout was happening and recorded! See the youtube video embedded on the top of this post.
We plan to continue the discussion with more google hangouts and perhaps articles, so keep an eye on this space for more.
New New Games discussion with:
Bernie DeKoven – DeepFUN (USA) http://deepfun.com
Chad Toprak – Hovergarden (AUS) http://hovergarden.org
Philipp Ehmann – Play:Vienna (AT) http://playvienna.com
Robert Reid & Sayraphim Lothian – Pop Up Playground (AUS) http://popupplayground.com.au
Zuraida Buter – Zo-ii / Playful Arts Festival (NL) http://zo-ii.com / http://www.playfulartsfestival.com
Tassos Stevens (Coney) and Amani Naseem (Copenhagen Game Collective) were also invited. Tassos was present via text chat, Amani could not make it.