Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Hanging out with the big kids


PS_magazine_1
Originally uploaded by Avant Game.
can make you feel you are one of them ... until there is trouble.

Last Saturday I was inspired to cavort with Trois tetes and to join in with a bit of
collective gaming.


We put photos of our antics here, all part of the re-shelving project started by Avant Game here and here.

Now all was well and fine, especially enjoying the notriety of Boing Boing and Howard Rheingold's infamous sites. Even the librarians have been joining in.



But hey!!


Some people have turned nasty and I have realised that when you play with the bigger kids, you may hear rude words. And maybe you will feel that what was a game, is in fact VERY SERIOUS. I should have listened to my Mum and kept 'well away.'

Although, I think she also might say that Chris Applegate is only jealous.

(His argument does start to show chinks I think when he seems to be saying that Jane is too scared to use rude words.)

Anyway let me know if you think we should all keep 'well away.'
This is all very good material for a piece on play and blogging.

10 comments:

Guy Merchant said...

Well that's playpower, and shows the potential of new technology in urban activism. Is it private play in public space (like the New Scotland Yard game or botfighting), or public play in corporate space?

Anonymous said...

I think Chris is stupid. There are stupid people in the world and they should be allowed to continue in this world. However, their attitude to people who see fun as a way of changing society (instead of what, hours in smoke filled rooms?) needs challenging. As does his attitude to people who like riding in shopping trolleys.

Personally I think that the Waitrose trolley has the best acceleration, Tesco has the best handing, but Netto wins on value for money.

TT

Joolz said...

Thank you TT . That was very informative, if a little confusing.

Guy, as usual, your words are succinct and pithy. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I am really surprised at the negative responses and also the arguments made by Chris speaking out against it. I thought it was a very clever, original idea done with a sense of fun and creative flair. The fact that there was a social comment behind it obviously inspired people to join the fun. No harm was done - it was performance art! Maybe different cultures find certain acts more sensitive than others? now if we had graphic images of torture in G Bay slipped inside the back of the book with a PS... or if we took Judith Butler's new book next to 1984 to show how times have changed / realised many of the 1984 concerns, and make it an explicit statement against Bush and war and treatment of prisoners of war and so on... well maybe that would be taking things too far for the poor young minds that see the reshelving... I am rambling but hopefully you'll get the reasons behind the surprise I am feeling after reading through this post.

Joolz said...

Yes I see what you mean thanks Anya for taking time on this!
His venom amazed me and again I am struck how powerfully I feel it when my affinity sace is touched by this kind of ferocity.
There is so much said about the lovely creative commons online - which I see the Avant Gaming a part of - but every now and then I come near something like this and have to quickly navigate away. This is the kind of thing we have tolearn to look out for and have our feelers out to predict; this is what we need to teach young peole about. Net savvy stuff. So now Iknow. gaming can be rough.

Clare said...

Oh dear, he was a bit cross wasn't he.

Joolz said...

Yep. You are both right again.

Gareth said...

I would just like to clarify that I was talking about Chris Applegate earlier, not Chris Best.

Having reflected at length, I now feel the need to sell my car and do all my travel in a supermarket trolley. This is will have the twin benefits of being environmentally friendly and getting Mr Applegates's goat

Joolz said...

In fact if you think about it, by getting Mr Applegate's goat, you are being de facto environmentally frendly. Marvellous.

Jane said...

Hey Joolz! I was happy to find this post and the comments. Chris' post got me down at first, I guess because it felt so much like a personal attack. But it is a perfect reminder of the seriousness of play, which is definitely something we should not forget as we keep gaming. Cheers.

Powered By Blogger

About Me

My photo
Sheffield, South Yorks, United Kingdom
I am an academic interested in New Literacies, Digital Lifestyles, Informal Online Learning.