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Playgrounds | Tarim | Altern8PTTP is about creating playgrounds. Playgrounds for everyone to play in. Although these playgrounds exist in the physical world, you don't play on them by climbing all over them - you play using some kind of digital interface - which gives a lot of different ways to play.
If this is too much of a nebulous and abstract concept for you to grab hold of - then the PTTP Media Sandbox commission is about making one, as an example, which will give you a much better idea of what this means in reality.
I like to think of this from the point of view of four different types of people, or roles:
- The Designer
- The Players
- The Audience
- The Geeks
The person (or people) who design the playground. Although they have some ideas of how it might be played with - they need to make the playground open. When it's finished, they're going to have to, "give it away" and see what people do with it.
People who play (obvious, huh?) - using whatever kinds of digital interfaces that are available.
The people who watch. Any player who is waiting their turn to play will almost certainly be a member of the audience. (No, I'm not telling you anything ground-breaking, yet.)
(It's ok, it's not a pejorative term if I am one myself.) These are people who design new interfaces for players to play with. It might be an interface that lets more than one person play at once. Or that uses some aspect of the environment to control the playground. Or some new physical interface, (dance mats?), which players can play on. The interesting thing from a geek's point of view - is that they don't have to ask permission from the designer to create a new interface. They simply queue up like any other player. Sometimes, the geek might be the designer in a different role or sometimes they will be a player who has an interesting idea about how they want to play.
Great! (but what is it?) | Tarim | Altern8What is Power To the People? It seems it's not always easy to explain…
When I talk to people about schemes that PTTP could be used for - they (mostly) get excited and throw in lots of ideas. Which is just the sort of reaction I was hoping for! So, what's the problem?
I then mention that the project isn't about actually implementing any of these ideas directly - it's about providing a method to help other people create these sort of schemes. That slightly confused look starts to cross their face…
Most people are quite happy to use tools: computers, phones, buildings, clothes, coffee mugs (look around - bet there aren't many things you can see that aren't tools). But how often do you think about how these tools are made (and, indeed, why should you?) Making tools to make other tools is, well, somewhat into the geek territory. PTTP is one more stage removed - it's a tool - to help make tools - to help make a public installation tool. By this time, most people have suddenly remembering they have a pressing appointment and have to leave.
Working with Nathan Hughes (new producer on PTTP) is definitely helping this process - he's the translator from what goes on in my head (a sort of green and black screen with falling characters on it) to what goes on in other people's heads (you'd know better than I would here…)
