I Know What I Like

Posted 2 years ago by Uus Maailm Games

Six decks of cards in a sky blue display shelf. One deck reads, "Ms. Manrae," another reads, "Dr. Gross," and another one reads "Zork."

 

 

 

 

I Know What I Like

 

 

People like art (and art museums) for different reasons. In I Know What I Like, you must become someone else and understand how and why they look at works of art. Unfortunately, the people you have to become are all a bit, well, different.

The thrust of this exercise is to remove people’s expectations when visiting an art museum by giving them an arbitrary absurd task to accomplish, thereby distracting them from the burdon of trying to enjoy “Art”. The reality is that  everybody likes art for different reasons and by transforming into someone who has a very specific idea of why they like art, the average museum goer can do the same for themself. 

This game was run at SFMOMA in 2012 as part of their Art Game Lab series. Masks were given to attendees to transform into their respective characters, so consider some sort of costume when playing this game.

 

Game Type:

Art Game, Museum Game

Players:

1-3 per team

Field:

Art Museum- can be tweaked for any museum

Equipment needed:

Dice, paper, writing implements, smart phones

Optional equipment: Costumes for the characters

Time:

30 min

Rules:
  1. Choose a character or roll a die to randomly select a character.
  1. Select your character’s card 
  2. Read each character’s bio, and understand your character and his or her art interests.
  3. Select one or more levels to complete in the museum. There are three levels: easy medium and hard. the harder the level, the more tasks you must complete, and the longer the game will take to finish. however, the harder your tasks, the more points you earn.
  4. Put on your character mask and go into the museum to play!

NB: you can only score points on a level if you have completed all previous levels, i.e. you need to complete all easy and medium tasks in order to earn points for a hard task. 

 

Scoring –

Players earn points for:

  • Making popular guesses of art works based on all other player responses
  • Writing down their reason for selecting certain artworks
  • Documenting their tasks with photo and video

At the end of the exercise, players turn in their efforts to a judge/judges who score them. Scoring can be weighted to emphasize the most important elements that the judges want the players to focus on.

 

Characters –

 

MONROE

Ms. Monroe is a tired starlet who just can’t seem to fall asleep. She has heard that people in museums often feel tired after looking at art. She wants to find the most sleep-inducing works of art to relax her and send her into slumberland. 

Stealth Task: Find the five most sleep-inducing works of art in the museum’s collection. 

Hands-On Task: Create a photo series of you or other persons sleeping in the museum. 

Bold Task: Talk someone into sleeping in the museum. Points awarded for effort and for the duration of their slumber. Provide video documentation. 

 

GRENDELL

Grendell is an infamous monster who eats people in and around drinking establishments. Since bar security is up these days, Grendell cannot manage to get into bars, and must lure people outside to devour them. He figures he can tempt sophisticated art patrons outside with some art. 

Stealth Task: Find three works of art that Grendell could use to tempt someone out of a bar

Hands-On Task:  Take pictures of yourself with three different people you would most like to eat in front of an artwork. 

Bold Task: Tempt someone out of the museum and eat them. Provide video documentation. 

 

DURGA

Durga is a powerful goddess with eight arms who reigns over the force of heavenly creation. Unfortunately, in a tragic chainsaw juggling/wheat threshing accident, she cut off all of her arms. She has come to the museum to find prosthetic replacements for her appendages. She is looking for a range of objects that will give her a nice variety of new tools, accoutrements, and maybe even some flashy bling to replace her immortal flesh. 

Stealth Task: Find eight works of art to replace Durga’s arms. 

Hands-On Task: Document a prototype of an artwork arm using yourself, an artwork, and some perspective manipulation ( i.e.,  do not touch the artwork). The more simulated artwork arms in one photograph, the better. No photoshopping!

Bold Task: Create an eight-armed being and establish your god-given dominance over the museum. Provide video documentation. 

 

GROSS

Dr. Gross runs a semi-legal experimental surgery center in his basement. He is looking for new patients on whom to perform a new highly promising reanimation surgery that can bring human representations to life. He has also developed a technique to turn humans into two-dimensional representations. He has headed to the museum to find some volunteer test subjects. 

Stealth Task: Select five works of art you would like Dr. Gross to reanimate. 

Hands-On Task: Make some test photographs of people inserted into artworks. Use your friends, artworks, and some perspective manipulation. 

Bold Task: Perform and document a reanimation surgery in one of the galleries. Provide video documentation.

 

ZORK

Zork is a sentient gas cloud who has been pulled into our atmosphere and is stuck on earth indefinitely. Alone and miserable, Zork must find friends. However, since Zork can only communicate with inanimate objects, colors, and abstract concepts or notions, it is having a hard time finding some amigos. 

Stealth Task:  Find five different friends for Zork. Zork likes shininess, colors, and intersecting lines, and wants a group of friends who all have different appreciable qualities. 

Hands-On Task:  Select a work of art or a group of works that Zork is enamored with. Make a mix tape for the object of Zork’s affection. Include at least twelve songs and provide the names of the corresponding artists.  

Bold Task:   Show a Public Display of Affection with various inanimate objects throughout the museum. Provide video documentation. Do not touch or damage any art. 

 

PUGACHEV

Pugachev is an army lieutenant aiming to cause trouble. He is looking for rebellious recruits to overthrow the Tsar. He knows the power of art and wants to recruit works of art to his feisty corps of mutinous firebrands.

Stealth Task: Select five works of art that would most likely join the rebel cause. 

Hands-On Task: Write a manifesto using found text from museum artwork labels. The more bombastic the language the better. 

Bold Task: Incite a rebellion inside the museum. Gather as many human troops (no artwork) as possible into one gallery and provide video documentation of your war mongering battalion. Inspiring speeches encouraged. Do not damage the art.