conversations

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Conversations

Festival 4x4, Tromsø kunstforening, August 2007.




Link to: Installations and performances

In the performance/ happening-festival 4x4 in Tromsø I invited the audience to challenge one of 16 characters that I would “represent” to a short heads up (one against one) tournament. The participants randomlypicked their opponent, and I would play the chosen character using an instruction-sheet.

The games lasted from 2-40 minutes, usually around 30. I played 5-6 games each evening for 4 nights, in two different locations; backroom and cafe.

During a game my opponent and me played with differently coloured chips. The chips in use were

stacked according to a chronologic sequence I administered while playing. After each game the chips were put into an acrylic tube in the right order, to be displayed for the rest of the evening. Then a new game could start.

Like core-samples from glaciers or rock-layers, there would be traces of history in the chip-tubes. From these “game-fingerprints” audience could see signs of how long the game lasted, the rhythm of play, betting level, and the interactions and “dialogues” between the two players.